SPACE: Above and Beyond

No infringement of the following characters and situations is intended. The Characters and situations of the TV program "SPACE: Above and Beyond" are the creations of Glen Morgan and James Wong, Fox Broadcasting and Hard Eight Productions, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

Warning: Rated [MA] Mature Adults only. Contains strong m/m sexual scenes, violence, coarse language and adult themes.

The characters and situations of Space: Above and Beyond are the copyright of Fox Television and Hard Eight Productions. The following fiction is meant for private, nonprofit amusement and no copyright violation is intended. Redistribute only upon consent of originator.

[This short story recounts, mainly from Nathan West's POV, the three and a half days immediately following the events depicted in "...Tell Our Moms We Did Our Best." It is rated NC-17 for sexual content. Any mention of the 59th Ready Reserve is made out of the deepest affection.]

"Don't Tell Our Moms..."

Nathan West paused outside the door to the 58th's wardroom. It had been hours since the memorial for Paul Wang, hours since an empty casket bearing a brass plate inscribed with Paul's name was nudged from the torpedo tube to arc gently towards the nearest star, but Nathan was still in dress uniform. He must have walked the decks of the Saratoga for - what? - he peered at his watch - three hours?

He dreaded returning to the nearly empty wardroom, now inhabited only by himself and fellow survivor Cooper Hawkes. The absence of the others was felt the strongest there; it was a haunted shell, completely unlike the lively, overcrowded headquarters of the Wildcards.

He turned the handle and went in. Coop's dress blues were scattered all over the locker room floor - good thing McQueen isn't here to see that, Nathan thought, before the memory of why McQueen wasn't there intruded. McQueen, the Wildcards' CO, father figure, leader, mentor and friend, was currently en route to Earth, with a leg missing below the knee. *God, can't I stop thinking about them for one second?*

The room appeared empty as Nathan walked into the locker room to remove and hang up his dress blues. But returning to the bunkroom, he noticed Cooper - not on his bunk, but on Shane's again. Back to the room, he had his face buried in Shane's pillow.

Nathan stretched out on Paul's bunk and laced his hands behind his head. The silence was oppressive - finally he cleared his throat and said, "Coop..."

"Le' me 'lone." The voice muffled by the pillow was thick with tears. *Damn*, Nathan thought. *He's probably been crying over her for hours... * It was easy to forget that the big In Vitro was only six years old; he'd probably never lost someone close to him in his short life. Hell, he'd probably never even had someone to be close to until the judge in Philadelphia dragooned the "delinquent" into the Marines.

"Coop," Nathan tried again. "The cockpit made it to the planet's surface intact... The SAR teams have found no...no bodies or anything. Shane and Vanessa are alive somewhere, and it's just a matter of time before the teams find them."

"Or until the Chigs do," Cooper replied. He turned to face Nathan. "They could be POWs right now - Chigs could be doing anything to them... and there's nothing I can do about it. They've locked us out of the hammer-bays; I tried to get in and get to my bird a while ago and they'd changed the access...I guess they know we'd go out after them..." He sat up, scrubbing his palms across his face.

Nathan was momentarily diverted by a mental picture of Cooper flying his hammerhead in his dress uniform. "Well, at least Stenner has dropped charges against us... We'll fly again soon. They just don't want us to do something crazy right now; the area is too hot for us to go off on some crusade..."

"What's the point of being let off by Stenner if we can't get to Shane and 'Phousse before the Chigs do? What's the point? We might as well be in the brig for all the good we can do." Cooper flopped back down on the bunk and turned to face the wall.

Nathan retreated into his own thoughts - thoughts of Kylen, on her way back to Earth. It had been so good to see her again... to know she was all right, was going to be safe... Still, that incurious look she had given McQueen as his stretcher was borne away - would she ever understand what McQueen meant to the 'Cards? what the 'Cards had meant to each other?

He looked over at the other bunk. Cooper's shoulders shook with silent tears, and Nathan was filled with pity. At least he still had his Mom and Dad, his youngest brother John, Kylen... Coop had nobody. Nobody but me, he thought. He remembered his brother Neil at eight, when the puppy he had found and brought home had sickened and died - some virus strays were prone to, but Neil's eight-year-old heart was broken. He remembered how he'd taken Neil into his arms and held him wordlessly, and without thinking about it, he slid off Paul's bunk, and sat down beside Cooper. A tentative hand on the In Vitro's shoulder was not thrown off, so Nathan lay down beside him and put his arms around Cooper, who turned and buried his face in Nathan's chest. Just like Neil, Nathan thought, as he tightened his hold and stroked Cooper's back in the universal there-there gesture.

Eventually, Cooper's tears subsided and he began to talk... about Shane, about how seeing her sleeping always made him want to kiss her, how crazy her lips made him. Nathan smiled in spite of his sorrow. "I thought you said she was like a mother to you."

"She is!" Cooper seemed confused.

"Guys usually don't have thoughts like that about their mothers," Nathan pointed out.

"When she's Shane? Sure they do..." Cooper insisted.

No taboos, Nathan thought - they don't instill In Vitros with the regulation set of cultural taboos. I wonder how much trouble that gets them into...

Now Cooper was asking him about Kylen - did she seem OK to him? Was she going to be alright? Kylen... the woman he was going to marry, who he would die for, for whom he risked the lives of the 58th... why couldn't he concentrate on her, and be glad she was safe? This obsessing on the fate of the two girls, the sorrow over Paul and McQueen seemed to drive out all happier thoughts.

"Kylen..." he began. "I don't know - I should be happier. For over a year, all I could think about was finding her... saving her. Now that she's safe, I can't even be glad. Too much has happened, stuff she'll never understand." Cooper raised himself on an elbow and watched Nathan's face, openly curious.

"When the war's over, if I survive, I'll go home and marry her," Nathan continued, "and she'll try to make me understand what she went through as a POW, and I'll try to make her understand what I went through, seeing friends like Paul and Kelly Ann die in front of my eyes, and neither of us will ever come close to really understanding... if Shane and Phousse are - dead," he stumbled on the word, feeling his own tears rising to the surface, threatening to choke him, "no one will understand... no one but you, Coop. If anything happens to you, there won't be anyone who understands..." Nathan shut his eyes as he felt the tears begin.

And opened them a second later as he felt lips on his - Cooper's lips! Nathan's mind raced - no taboos, dammit! I should have expected... He's been so hurt...I'll be damned if I contribute to hurting him...He quelled the initial impulse to push Cooper away, an impulse that was already fading as he realized how good it felt. And realized that he was returning Cooper's kiss, as hungry and desperate as Cooper was.

Nathan's thoughts were in disarray; was he ashamed, or was he glad? All he could do was feel and feeling was a thrill. Cooper's tongue parted Nathan's lips and explored his mouth, circling his own tongue. Nathan allowed his friend to draw his tongue back into his mouth, where Cooper gently sucked and bit on it. His hands were under Nathan's tee, stroking and caressing, drawing tingles of excitement from Nathan's groin.

As Cooper's lips moved from Nathan's to travel down his jawline to his neck, Nathan found enough breath to gasp, "I thought you said you didn't know anything about this stuff?"

"I don't know much about girls - they kept us separate at the facility," Cooper murmured between kisses and licks, as he began to traverse Nathan's chest with his tongue. "But I know all about making guys feel good - we'd do stuff to each other after lights-out; it was the only fun we ever had."

Now Nathan was ashamed of his own initial shame, as he stroked his friend's hair - what a rotten life the poor kid's had... Cooper raised his head and gave Nathan a grin. "One of the girls tried to explain to me once what the girls did to each other, but I don't think I quite get it. I tried to sneak into the girls' dorm one night to see what went on over there and was almost caught by a pack of monitors - they were monitoring, all right! They were peeking at the girls. I always thought they probably peeked at us, too..." His mouth came down hard on Nathan's again.

Nathan's arms went around Cooper, and he marvelled at the feel of hard pecs instead of soft breasts against his chest, of Coop's incipient growth of whiskers rasping his neck. It was so different, but so erotic. He wondered if women found a guy's need for a shave as exciting as he did...

Now Cooper's lips and tongue were on his chest again, circling and sucking at his nipples, and his hands were pushing Nathan's shorts down. *Oh, God..., Nathan thought. If I let him... he'll expect me to reciprocate, and I don't know if I can... But now Cooper's searching lips had found Nathan's erect penis, and Nathan couldn't think of anything but the sensation... if the Saratoga were under attack, he thought, I wouldn't have the willpower to stop him now.

He ran his hands over Cooper's back, admiring his friend's physical beauty, as Cooper took his cock completely into his mouth, caressing Nathan's testicles with his hands. Had anything ever felt so good? Nathan wondered. Had he ever been this excited in his life? He wondered if a guy could actually die from sheer pleasure as he felt his excitement building... What would Coop do if he came in his mouth? Oh well, he was going to find out...

Nathan arched his back and gasped as he felt himself pass the point of no return - "Oh GOD, Coop, I'm coming NOW!" Wave after shockwave of electricity poured through him as he felt himself spurting his hot juices into Cooper's mouth. And Cooper kept sucking and swallowing, until Nathan collapsed sated on the bunk. Cooper finally raised his head and grinned at him - "Like drinking from a firehose," he said as he took Nathan's quaking body into his arms, stroking his face and neck, and kissing his eyelids and temples.

As Nathan lay in Cooper's arms, the tears started again - not tears of sorrow this time, but tears of - what? Release? Could it be joy? He raised his head to look into Cooper's face, innocent of guile, filled with satisfaction that he had made his friend feel good. "God, Coop..." Nathan began, "that was..." He stopped, and took Cooper's face between his hands, and kissed him. First time I initiated a kiss with a guy, he thought, as their lips explored each other. "That was the most wonderful..." Again he kissed Cooper, deeper this time, and as he felt Cooper's lips part, he was quick to slide his tongue into Coop's willing mouth. Tasted different... That was him! He was tasting his own semen on the tongue and lips of his best friend!

The thought thrilled him. And filled him with resolve - he had to know what Cooper tasted like and to hell with the views of society. He raised up on one elbow, looking at Coop's face. 'Cooper," he began, and stopped, confused. How does a person ask? "Coop... I'd like to do you too, but... I don't know how."

Cooper ran his hands down Nathan's sides and hips. "It's easy," he said. "Just do to me what you think you'd like to feel me doing to you."

Easy. Yeah, right. Easy if you're not swathed in centuries of taboos... "I want to look at you," Nathan whispered, as he pushed Coop's tee-shirt up and over his head. "All of you," and he pulled at Cooper's shorts. Coop raised his hips to assist in the process, and Nathan found himself uncovering the largest penis he'd ever seen. "Hey," he said. "I've seen you in the showers and you were never sporting this monster..."

"You never saw me turned on before," Cooper blushed. "I used to wake up from dreaming of Shane with the biggest boner... I was afraid I'd get teased about it. I'd sneak into the head and ... you know."

"I can guess," Nathan said as he stroked the length of Cooper's cock. "Something like this, am I right?" and he began to pump his hand up and down. Cooper groaned, and Nathan stopped. He wanted to take his time. He ran his hands over Cooper's body, then rubbed his face in his friend's broad chest. God, when he was a scrawny kid, he dreamed of growing up to have a body like this... well, now he *had* one, he thought to himself, in a manner to speaking.

His exploration continued. The smooth stomach - he kissed and licked where a navel would be in a natural born, before progressing down to Coop's slim hips. God, those thighs! He ran his hands along them, stroking the softer skin of Cooper's inner thigh, then brought his lips to bear - kissing those beautiful legs, running his hands over the tight buttocks, creeping ever closer to his ultimate objective.

He raised his head to study Cooper's face. His friend was watching him with gentle eyes... the sometimes-feral In Vitro looked more like Bambi than a wolf right now. Nathan kept his eyes on Cooper's face as he placed a soft kiss on the very tip of Coop's penis. Cooper smiled and sighed.

Nathan bent his head and took the large cock into his mouth. No way I can take it all... he thought, but maybe that won't matter; he wrapped a hand around the base of Cooper's penis and gorged himself on as much of it as he could. As he worked his head up and down, he heard Cooper's groans, and was pleased; he was doing it right... His free hand cupped Cooper's balls and he felt them tighten. Soon... soon he'd know.

Cooper gave a wordless cry as his buttocks lifted off the bunk - Nathan's mouth was suddenly filled with salty sperm. He tried to swallow it all, but he couldn't; there was too much of it. Some leaked out to drip down his chin as he swallowed and sucked, and swallowed and sucked again. Finally the flow ceased, and Nathan gave one final kiss to Cooper's cock, and looked up.

Cooper was smiling, a child's happy smile, as he held out his arms to Nathan. Nathan gladly collapsed against him, and shuddered with emotion as he felt Cooper licking his own semen off Nathan's chin and throat. With his head nestled on Coop's shoulders, Nathan fell into a deep and healing sleep.

Nathan woke first, his usual ten-minutes before reveille, to find himself on Shane's bunk, still locked in Cooper's arms. He thought back to the events of the night before - waking in the dark to Cooper's kisses, fumbling and groping their way to another series of orgasms. He didn't know men could come that often in such a short period of time. He tried to remember how many times they had both woken with the same desire, but he lost track... Would Cooper wish it hadn't happened? he worried. Did *HE* wish it hadn't happened? He wasn't sure.

He studied his friend's sleeping face, wishing he could read minds. When reveille blared over the intercom, Cooper started awake. Nathan had always been amused at this alert-animal waking so characteristic of the wary In Vitro. Cooper noticed Nathan's regard, and pressed a fierce kiss on his lips, before jumping out of bed.

... That answers THAT question, Nathan thought, as he too got up and went over to study the electronic message board to discover what his daily duties would be. Not flying, he was prepared to bet... nope, another debriefing with the intel dorks about the Chig in the cavern. When would they ever run out of questions? He hadn't even hardly seen the Chig in the cavern... Coop came up behind him and pressed the sequence to access his messages.

"Ooooh, shit!" He wailed. "The camera nerds again!"

Nathan grinned - "They love ya, good-lookin'. I thought they were interviewing you yesterday..."

"I bagged it yesterday... They had it scheduled for right after Paul's service, the turds. I couldn't deal with them right then..." Cooper shook his head and growled, "Don't feel like dealin' with 'em today, either."

"Cooper!" Nathan took his arm and gently shook it. "TELL Them. Tell them about Shane and Phousse... Tell them about Paul!" Cooper gave him a curious look and then grinned.

"Do you know you are coated with dried come?" he asked innocently.

"Well if I am, you big lunk, it's all your fault," Nathan retorted, as he raced for the showers, laughing, actually laughing - something he thought he'd never do again.

Nathan almost stumbled as he staggered down the corridor towards the bar. Eight solid hours in the wringer, he thought. His brain felt like it had been degaussed, as the debriefing team had gone over and over every piddly detail of what had happened on Anvil. Sometimes he had seen Stenner standing in the back of the room, with his arms crossed over his chest, his face frozen in a scowl. I wonder what they want from me? Nathan thought as he approached the Tun. What do they think I might know that I'm not telling them?

A beer, a beer, my kingdom for a beer, he mentally chanted as he walked into the ship-board tavern, and stood blinking in the bright lights. The Tun's traditional pub semi-darkness was shattered by bright TV spots, and he could make out Cooper, sitting on a bar stool, surrounded by the film crew, on board the Saratoga to capture the war for the home-planet audience.

Nathan sidled up to the bar well out of the lights and ordered a beer, and then joined the onlookers. He wasn't close enough to hear what was being said, but studying the faces of the film crew was interesting... If that girl holding the spot let her jaw drop any farther, it would hit the floor, he thought with a grin. The rest of the film crew and the assorted Saratoga detailees that crowded the bar had similar rapt expressions. What WAS Cooper telling them? He felt a moment's panic - would Coop tell about THEM? No, surely not... he'd been around long enough to know that some people would find the thought of their shared joy last night repulsive, and he was too sensitive to his status as a "tank" to want to generate any bigotry among erstwhile friendly people.

Still... what WAS he saying? It was odd to see the usually silent Cooper holding forth while a crowd hung on his every word. Nathan circled around to try to get closer to the filming...

Ah, Coop was telling them about the flight of the Homeward Bound, the ill-fated APC whose cargo of released colonial prisoners had been worth such desperate efforts by the Five Eight. He'd gotten to the hostage transfer and the last message from the 59th Ready Reserve, the squadron that had flown their air support, now blown into the history books.

Now he was telling them about how Paul Wang and Nathan West had stayed behind, to fly the crippled APC in, doubling their weapons... Shit, Cooper was making him sound like such a hero, Nathan thought, blushing in the darkness. Jeez, Coop looked beautiful in the lights - like a god, or something... Nathan scanned the audience. It was clear that he wasn't the only one admiring the young In Vitro; many of the women and even several of the men were looking at him with naked lust. Kid'll need a bodyguard, he thought... and I volunteer.

Nathan stood lost in reveries, remembering the new sensations he'd experienced the night before; examining his feelings... he felt so *mushy* towards his friend. So protective, and tender... I think I love him, he thought with dawning wonder, and a little fear. No, more than that... I'm IN love with him. With Coop!

He suddenly noticed that the audience was even more silent, and looked up... he'd missed Cooper telling about the downing of the APC's cockpit, carrying Shane and Phousse; it was clear that it had been told, however... tears were streaming down Cooper's face as he began to relate Paul's sacrifice. Many of the on-lookers were wiping tears or surreptitiously blowing noses, and the camera crew... They had the appearance of holding their collective breath, willing Cooper to continue, praying the camera didn't run out of storage...

Nathan felt eyes on the back of his neck and turned. Commodore Ross stood in the back of the room, surveying the filming. When he noticed Nathan looking at him, he smiled. He mouthed *good stuff*, and nodded towards the 'stage'. Nathan nodded in return... let the folks back home know what was going on out here, he thought, what young lives were being wasted, all for Aerotech and their Earth-strangling economachine...

"Tell us about Paul Wang, Lieutenant," the interviewer coaxed. "What kind of guy was he?"

"Ah, Paul... the Wangman..." Cooper smiled through his tears, and several of the watching women made silent plans to stalk and seduce the handsome young pilot. "Paul was such a hoot... he could do impersonations of anyone. He had us in stitches doing McQueen... That's our CO... " Cooper's voice faded, then regained strength. "So much rotten stuff had happened to Paul. He was tortured by the Silicates on Kazbek... We never knew how much that ate at him... I'm glad he got the chance he felt he needed to regain the honor he never really lost..." He ran down again, and the cameraman was making the age-old 'cut' sign. The camera had finally run out of memory.

Nathan was alone in the wardroom, worrying. The dinner hour had come and gone, with no sign of Cooper; his last sight of his friend was of him surrounded by the media-types all plying him with questions, herding him off with them. He hoped his socially-uneducated friend wouldn't do anything stupid...

He started when he heard the door latch, then sighed when Cooper walked in, wearing a puzzled expression.

"Man, that was WEIRD," Cooper remarked. "Three separate women tried to get me to their quarters."

"Any of the guys?" Nathan asked, smiling.

"I dunno - that cameraman was sure making some odd remarks... like he could make me a star or something. Gave me the creeps."

"Did you take any of them up on it? Or want to?" Nathan tried to keep his voice merely curious, and not querulous.

"Hey, man, are you kidding? Who knows that those ghouls really want? I'd rather go on a blind date with a vampire. If I'd ever had a mother, I'm sure she'd have told me...'Never fuck someone you don't know'. "

Nathan laughed, and then got serious. "Boss Ross came over to me at the mess tonight... one of the spookie units found some kind of signs on planet... They think Shane left 'em as a clue to their whereabouts."

Cooper grew animated. "What were they? WHERE were they?"

"Ross didn't know, or wasn't telling. Still, they're still looking."

Cooper walked over to the viewport and looked out. "We need to get out there somehow, kid. You and I, we know Shane... We could figure it out..."

"The Boss figured you'd say that - he made real clear that you and I are not allowed near anything that flies until this area cools down some, or until Shane and Phousse are found."

Cooper made a wordless growl and walked over the tinker with the com-unit. Nathan cleared his throat. "It looks good, Coop, it really does... Shane at least is alive and thinking smart. They'll get her..." He paused in confusion. "Coop... when Shane's ... when the girls are back, will we still..." He couldn't finish the question. "Will they come between us?" he finally managed to say.

"Jeez, I hope so!" Cooper said, and Nathan's face fell. Cooper laughed, swinging around and yanking Nathan into his arms. "Just picture one of the girls between us RIGHT NOW! Wouldn't that be cool?"

Nathan laughed, but he wasn't done worrying. "You know what I mean... when the wardroom's got more people in it, and all... could we still..."

Cooper steered the two of them over to the nearest bunk and pulled Nathan down onto it with him. "You know there are units that do, don't you?," he said as he began unbuttoning Nathan's shirt.

"The mythical orgy units? I never knew of a real one, did you?" Nathan's hands were busy, untucking Cooper's shirt, crawling up under his tee...

"Sure," Cooper said. "I know there are less than there are stories about them, but there's a couple units right here on the 'Toga. Or there were.... The Five-Nine, for one."

"Noooo!" Nathan exclaimed.

"True - I had it straight from Roo." Cooper was trying unsuccessfully to work Nathan's belt buckle. "Jeez, man - what do you want to go around wearing a belt for anyway? You'd think you were trying to make it hard for a guy to get in your pants..."

"You know, I remember thinking that they were awfully tight for an activated reserve unit; almost like they'd already been through combat together," Nathan mused, kicking his shoes off.

"That's one way to put it," Cooper laughed. "Roo said it was 'an integral part of their unit's culture' - that everyone pretty much did everyone else. Not that they had weird rituals or anything, it just was understood that fucking in the wardroom after lights-out was OK. Sounded like it got pretty steamy in there sometimes - you know, with groups and everything!" Cooper grinned.

Nathan paused in his exploratory foray inside Cooper's shorts and glanced around. "Bunks aren't big enough for groups."

"So you pull the mattresses on the floor..." Cooper started gnawing on Nathan's earlobe.

Suddenly Nathan sat up and looked sternly at his friend. "Just why was Roo telling you all this, anyway?" he demanded.

Cooper looked sheepish. "Aaah, remember a couple weeks after the 59 first reported? When Roo was acting like my new best friend for life?" Nathan nodded. "Turned out he was trying to recruit me. I didn't even realize it, until he made me an offer - all that stuff about what the unit would do together at night - I thought he was just bragging."

"They made you an offer?" Nathan was stunned.

"Hey, what's the big deal? I turned 'em down, didn't I? I get offers all the time," Cooper sounded indignant. "Of course, it's usually from units who think their shooting needs work, but still, I turn 'em all down. I'd never leave the 58."

"You'd better not!" Nathan growled, pressing Cooper down onto the bunk and covering his mouth with his lips.

Nathan drowsed awake, locked tight in Cooper's arms. Cooper was softly chewing Nathan's lower lip, half asleep himself. Earlier, they'd tried to suck each other simultaneously, but it was harder than he'd thought. It was really difficult to concentrate on what you were doing, Nathan discovered, when you were about to explode in your friend's mouth.

His stomach and chest were sticky with mixed semen, his and Cooper's - he nudged his bedmate. "If we don't move soon, all this spooge is gonna solder us together permanently," he warned.

"Coool," Cooper murmured, tightening his grip. He drew his head back to look in Nathan's eyes. "Picture this, if you will..." He was trying to impersonate that jackass of a vidmedia interviewer; he wasn't as good as Paul, maybe, but it was recognizable. "Shane Vansen, right between you and me this very second. Or Phousse. And we're BOTH inside her, driving her NUTS. Whaddya think?"

Nathan gave the question serious consideration. "I dunno - Phousse is a little girl. I don't know if there'd be room for both of us at once."

"Well, OK, one at a time then," Cooper conceded. "I'd love to slide into pretty little Phousse seconds after you'd come in her. Think she'd want us?"

"Hard to say... she always seemed awfully... you know, Baptist, or something."

"No way," Cooper objected. "She's been feeling unlovable since that jerkweed of hers back home took up with her best friend - she needs us. She already loves us... it's just a matter of getting her to want us."

"Could work," Nathan admitted. "What about Shane?"

"Shane!" Cooper enthused. "Now I insist that Shane could take the two of us at once."

"Only if I was in back," Nathan laughed. "You'd kill her with that weapon of yours."

"I would not!" Cooper was hurt. "I never once hurt anyone."

"Uh, Coop, don't take this wrong; it's really a good thing... But you're just too big to do the ... you know... back door."

"That's how much you know. I never once made even the new kids bleed... lots of smaller guys would hurt guys, not on purpose, but 'cause they were in too big a hurry. You just gotta be real careful and go real slow at first."

Now Nathan was intrigued. "You mean you've actually ... buttfucked guys before?"

"Sure, if they wanted me to. AND they loved it," Cooper insisted. "I never, EVER hurt any of 'em, even the kids who'd never done it before."

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to insult you," Nathan apologized. "I just didn't think it could be done, not with a cock that size. Do you think... would it be..."

"I'd love to fuck you, Nathan," Cooper answered. "If you hadn't asked, I was gonna have to hint harder..." He kissed Nathan and pulled away from him... their skin WAS stuck together by dried come, and separated with a sucking sound, making them laugh.

"What do you use for... lube?" Nathan asked nervously. He was a little scared, but his excitement overrode it.

"Come," Cooper said, starting to slide his hand up and down Nathan's erect penis. "Best there is..."

"Oh, jeez, Coop..." Nathan moaned. "I just can't get over how much you turn me on."

"No more than you do me, flyboy," Cooper growled, as he bent his head to lick Nathan's nipples.

It wasn't long before Nathan groaned and came. Cooper was ready; he'd been watching his friend closely, and managed to capture most of the spurting liquid in his hand.

Nathan opened his eyes, wondering, dreading, anticipating what came next. Cooper got up on his knees, and crouched between Nathan's legs. "Put your knees up on my shoulders," he instructed, "and lock your ankles together behind me." Nathan did as he was told, and Cooper straightened his back, raising Nathan's buttocks off the mattress.

"I like this better than doggy-style," Cooper confided, "'cause I can see your face this way." With one hand, he spread apart Nathan's cheeks, and tilting his other hand, he dripped Nathan's own semen between them, spreading it around his anus, and gently inserting a come-slick finger into Nathan's rectum. Nathan gasped - it felt good! Now Cooper was sliding his finger in and out in a fucking motion. More come and Cooper was sliding two fingers into Nathan's tight hole, as he applied some of Nathan's juices to the end of his cock.

"Oh, Coooop...." Nathan moaned. "I can't believe this - I'm getting hard again!"

Now Cooper had three fingers up Nathan's ass, and was drawing his hips close to Nathan's writhing butt. "When you feel me pressing," Cooper said, "Push out, like you're gonna take a dump... That'll open the way for me." Nathan nodded as he groaned.

Cooper removed his fingers from Nathan's hole, and dripped more semen onto the end of his blood-engorged cock. Positioning himself carefully, he gently nudged the head of his penis at Nathan's anus. "Push," he commanded, and pushed himself an inch into Nathan's opening. "Push." Nathan felt an incredible pressure in his ass, like he really needed to GO! He remembered Cooper's instructions, and tried to make like he was taking a shit. And suddenly felt the very large obstruction slide even further up his ass.

"OK," Cooper panted. "I'm past the shit muscles. God, you're tight. Let's rest here a minute, while you get used to it. Does it hurt?" he asked anxiously.

"N-no, it doesn't hurt, exactly," Nathan stammered. "I just feel so FULL!"

"You're gonna feel fuller soon; I'm barely inside you," Cooper said. "Tho' I feel like I could get off just staying here without moving- you're soooo tight." With his free hand, he stroked Nathan's quivering stomach. "Reeee-laaax," he murmured, dripping more of his reserve of semen onto the length of his penis. "I'll never hurt you..."

Nathan felt some of his tension subsiding, as he looked into Cooper's caring eyes... and felt another push as Cooper slid another inch into him. "Shhhhh...." Cooper cajoled. "It's Oooookay..." and another push. Now Cooper began to retreat and advance...he slowly pulled himself out an inch, and then shoved back in again. And each time, he was deeper and deeper into Nathan's asshole.

Nathan closed his eyes in ecstasy - his head was spinning, his cock hard and throbbing - he had never even imagined anything like this. When Cooper stopped moving, he opened his eyes and said, "God, Coop - don't stop."

Cooper was grinning. "Notice anything different?"

"Huh?" Then he saw that Cooper's hips were flush with his butt, and he could feel Cooper's balls on his buttcheeks.

"I am now completely enGULFed in your tight ass, my friend," Cooper crowed. "And you certainly don't act like I'm hurting you."

"Okay, Okay," Nathan pleaded. "You were right and I was wrong. Now PLEEEASE fuck me!"

"My pleasure," Cooper smiled. And slowly drew almost his entire length out of Nathan's body, and then slowly slid all the way in again. The last of Nathan's semen was rubbed onto his penis on the next stroke, and Cooper began to pump a little bit faster, taking Nathan's cock in one hand and stroking it.

As Cooper picked up the rhythm, Nathan began to moan. "Oh God, Coop! Oh I can't stand it! Don't ever stop - it's too much..." his words began to lose all sense, as he droned wordless syllables, screaming as he felt himself coming in Cooper's hand.

"Oh, Nathan!" Cooper sighed, and let go, releasing a flood of semen into Nathan's bowels. He managed two or three more strokes, as deep as he could, before his flow of sperm was exhausted and he collapsed on Nathan's chest.

It was quite some time later that Cooper raised his head from Nathan's chest and said, "You can fuck me any time you want."

"With what?" Nathan said in amused but tired thread of a voice. "I think you used all my come up with that last one. I may never fuck again...." And he tightened his arms and legs around Cooper's body, and drew Cooper's face to his lips, and kissed him.

Commodore Ross walked the quiet corridors of the sleeping Saratoga; the battle had finally shifted to the other side of the star system, and now the Seventh Fleet was bearing the brunt of the assault. The Saratoga rested, as quiet as a ship in a war-zone could ever be, and Ross welcomed the opportunity to catch his breath.

Four hours ago he had seen Admiral Stenner's shuttle off - Stenner was moving his operations to the Seventh for the time being. Ross hoped that Commodore Nelson made Stenner feel right at home; Ross was looking forward to being on his bridge and NOT feeling Stenner's censorious glare all day.

Crowe had woken Ross a hour ago to take a live communication from Bethesda - McQueen's transport had finally made it to Earth, and the Wildcards' CO was already on the horn, nagging Ross about his kids. Three days after the crazy disruption of the peace talks and the wild fight for the civilian hostages, and Vansen and Damphousse were still MIA. Ross was glad he was able to hold out some sort of hope for their recovery to McQueen; the signs Vansen had left were encouraging.

But McQueen was worried about his men, as well, particularly Hawkes. West was a known quantity - he'd survived the year-long suspense on Kylen's fate and his brother's death; he could deal with whatever he had to deal with. But Hawkes, the 'Cards wild child, could either grow or flame out from this series of tragedies, and McQueen, on Earth where he could not effect which direction Hawkes would choose, had commissioned Ross to specifically look out for him. Ross felt a little guilty - he'd had a word or two with West in the mess hall, but he hadn't spoken to Hawkes since the return of the Homeward Bound.

Ross paused outside the 58th's wardroom, then eased open the door and stepped inside - he'd just take a peek and see if the kids were sleeping... neither West's or Hawkes' bunk was occupied, and Ross stepped further into the room, finally noticing that they were both on Wang's bunk - Hawkes sprawled across West's body, West's arms and legs wrapped around him.

Ross grinned as a particular scent struck him - the atmosphere was redolent with the odor peculiar to lavish expenditures of semen... it reminded Ross at once of what they had called "the smell of burned out cock" at Camp Run-a-muck, the POWs "petname" for the Silicates' largest and most sadistic prison camp in Runnymede, before the AIs were forced off of Earth late in the AI Wars.

Ross was assailed by a vivid memory of three hideous days almost twenty years ago - the three days he spent with his arms wrapped around a half-crazed young In Vitro, simultaneously fighting his own ingrained prejudices and preventing the kid from hurting himself. The kid had some weird ideas about duty and honor, and insisted that he be allowed to do the only "honorable" thing and kill himself to atone for the disgrace of breaking under torture. Called it 'hari kari'. Well, it wasn't going to happen on Glen Ross' watch. For those three days, Ross had slept in snatches, lying on top of the kid to keep him from doing anything, watching him every minute, holding him pressed up against his chest when the ranting got really insane... His greatest fear was that the dice would roll the wrong way and the Silicates would come for him before the kid regained his senses, and before they were through with him, the kid would have done it.

But his luck had held... his 'Irish luck' he'd called it, and Ty was himself again when the Silicates came for Ross. And then it was Ty's turn to hold Ross when the Silicates dumped him back in the cell, hold him and comfort him... and love him. Ross discovered something then that West had apparently also learned... that In Vitros don't always follow society's rules when choosing who to give their love to, and have no inhibitions about how they show it.

Ross came out of his reverie to notice that Hawkes was awake, and glaring at him with a distinctly hostile look in his eyes... he hoped he'd never make an enemy of this young man, Ross thought. He'd read the Tigris Executive Action Report and knew what the kid was capable of...

He smiled. "As you were, Marine," he said softly and was relieved to see the hostility replaced with puzzlement. "I been there... no harm, no foul." Hawkes smiled and let his head drop back on West's chest as the Commodore walked out of the room and eased the door closed behind him.

Later that day, McQueen received email from Ross that made him grin with relief. It said, in total: "Remember Runnymede? Hawkes is going to be alright."

Nathan and Cooper stood outside the bay-doors, arguing - the cover to the doorlock had been pried off and Cooper was tinkering with the internal electronics.

"I still say we shoulda done this at night," Nathan said, looking nervously all around. Fortunately the bay they were attempting to break into was in one of the least-used areas of the 'Toga's active facilities.

"No way," Cooper protested. "Listen to your Uncle Cooper - if you're gonna have to bust in some place, don't do it at night; you stick out like a turd in the punch bowl." He tried another tack with the probe he'd filched from the hospital. "Wish the Wanger were here... he was good at this fiddly stuff. I just get all jumpy."

"YOU'RE jumpy," Nathan looked around again. "I think if someone came up behind me and said boo I'd have a heart-attack. Tell me again how come you're so sure we can get away with this."

"I never said we'd get away with it," Cooper corrected. "Ah, there's one... just that we can get this bird launched. We're gonna catch hell for doing it, assuming we survive."

"They'll notice the initiation cycle on the bridge and shut down the power," Nathan objected.

"No, they won't," Cooper claimed. "Oh, good - there's another one. One more... There's shuttles taking off and landing by the dozens every hour - all that support going to the seventh. One launch message in a list of them isn't going to catch anyone's eye right away... and if we can just go unnoticed until the elevator starts up, we're out of here... HOTdamn - that's it! Come on!"

The big bay door was thundering open and the two raced into the cargo bay before them. "But they'll STILL be able to remotely power off the computer," Nathan said.

"No, they won't," Cooper grinned. "Come on, let's take 'er up" and he smacked his fist into the big red switch that started the bay moving to dock with the ISSC fuselage on the flightdeck above them.

On the bridge, Crowe was simultaneously listening on his earpiece to the coms officer from Seventh bitching about Stenner, reading Seventh Fleet's huge list of support requirements on his screen and trying to make sense out of the flightlogs. Something was odd - one of the APC's hadn't filed a flight-plan? What APC was that, anyway? Uh-oh.

"Commodore," he cut through the chatter on the bridge. "Unauthorized APC launch in bay 42 - personnel are not responding to my request for a flight-plan."

The Commodore came over to stand behind Crowe. He had a fairly good idea of just who the responsible parties were. "Security to bay 42," Ross ordered. Damn, he was glad Stenner wasn't around right now - the 'Cards would be breaking rocks for the rest of their lives if he ever got to hear about this. "Power down the bay."

"Elevator is already operating, Commodore," Crowe reported.

"Shut down their computers, then and when security gets them, I want them cooling their heels in the brig," Ross barked.

"Sir," Crowe said, "I can't shut them down - they're not in my inventory."

"WHAT?" Ross said. "What do you mean, not in your inventory."

"It's the AIU's shuttle," Crowe explained. "It's been just sitting there ever since the explosion killed all the interpretation guys. The over-ride access codes are in the Nebraska's system, not ours."

Ross experienced a moment of admiration for the ploy - the kids are good, he thought. "And it'll take four days of red tape to get the Nebraska to release the codes to us, right?" Crowe nodded. Red tape was red tape.

"It's off the pad, sir," Crowe reported.

Ross picked up the hand-held. "Wildcards, this is the COMMODORE," he thundered. "You get your butts back here and I'll pretend this never happened."

West's voice was heard. "Sorry, sir. We gotta go get 'em. When we get back, you can have our heads on a platter."

"Don't think I won't. That area is still hot - Don't make me have to report to McQueen that his entire squadron got itself killed..."

Now it was Hawkes' voice - "All for one and one for all, sir." (In the APC, Nathan grinned at Cooper and mouthed *good one!*)

"APC has shut off it's transmitter, sir," Crowe reported.

"They can still receive?" Crowe nodded. "Send them the special forces report." Crowe looked startled - that report was classified EYES ONLY. "SEND IT!" Ross repeated.

Crowe turned to his workstation and began to transmit. Ross keyed the hand-held again. "'Cards, your on-board is now receiving the on-planet report from the spook team. Including coordinates and imagery from those coordinates. You will see in the photos a construction made out of sugar packets set up on end in the dirt. Appears to be a letter V with wings, or the greek letter lambda. Spooks believe that the construction's similarity to a directional arrow is coincidental and recommend focusing on the V or Lambda possibilities. They left the construct 'in situ'. Do not for one second believe that this assistance means you are NOT in deep shit because you ARE. Ross out." He slammed the hand-held down and repositioned his 'toga cap on his head.

"Crowe, message Bethesda and get an estimate from them. I want to know when McQueen's going to be fit for duty. I'm just too damned old to put up with this insubordinate horseshit."

Onboard the Nebraska's APC, Nathan was studying the report's coordinates, and planning a route to them while Cooper was studying the photos of the sugar packets, arrayed like a v-shaped Stonehenge. "Vee vee vee... V for Vansen, Vanessa, Victory? "

Nathan asked, 'Did you know Shane was still hoarding sugar?"

"Sure, she'd pocket a couple most meals... sneak a look in her locker some day. She'll get over it... only maybe not, now that it's come in handy." Cooper grinned, then said, "How 'bout L or Lambda?"

"Our buddy Elroy?" Nathan wondered.

"Doubt it," Cooper said. "She'd just use an E or an L if she was trying to say Elroy. Lambda, tho'. That doesn't make any sense either. Why Greek?"

"Eeh, we'll figure it out when we get there," Nathan stated. "You know, Cooper. If both girls are OK, and we have to assume they are, since they haven't been found... do you suppose that they... you know, like we did?"

Cooper's eyes lit up. "I sure hope so!" he exclaimed. "I really REALLY want to know what girls do to girls..."

"I'd sure like to watch..." Nathan admitted. "We're gonna catch heat when we get back though."

Cooper was studying the photo again. "So what?" he grunted.

Nathan laughed. "I like your 'tude, my brother. So what, indeed." And he turned the control that set the big engines pivoting on their gimbals to slow the APC's descent towards the planet's surface.

....... here endth the tale........

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