Hawkes entered the Wild Card's barracks bare moments ahead of the general alert. Vansen noticed his appearance, the others were too busy scrambling into flight suits and running for the fighter bay. She nudged Damphousse, running a finger over her knuckles, drawing Vanessa's attention to that same feature on Cooper - only his knuckles were bruised and split.

The black Lieutenant arched an eyebrow and grinned. "Wonder who he hit?"

Shane frowned. Hawkes may be a pain in the butt sometimes, but he was her friend. She made a mental note to talk to him soon.

McQueen's debriefing was short and to the point. After taking in all the pertinent information, and giving her report, Shane had time to sit back and speculate on the Colonel, and his newly split lip. From the discrete mutterings beside her, she knew Vanessa and Paul had noticed. The Colonel dismissed the squad, supposedly oblivious to the sudden rush of gossip behind him.

"What happened to him?" West asked, gesturing with his chin at the exiting Colonel.

Hawkes stared out the door, running his fingers over bruised knuckles, smiling to himself, then walked out.

"You're so dense," Vanessa said. "Hawkes wasn't in our room last night."

"So? He's hardly there often enough to need the bed."

"But he was there the previous two nights."

"Yes," West agreed.

"Think about it," Wang chimed in.

"I don't see ... oh."

"Yeah, oh," Wang smirked.

Vansen hurried out the door after Cooper, knowing he always went to one of two places after a battle - the VR shooting stand, or the cargo bay. She turned towards the bay.

Hawkes was sitting in his usual place, the top level of the grid rails that held the loading grips, staring off at the stars. She climbed up to sit beside him, shivering. The cargo bays were unheated, and the large window, with vacuum inches away through the plexglass, stole what little heat remained.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No." Cooper didn't turn to face her.

"You're not up on charges, so I'd guess it was personal," she said, hugging herself against the cold. A jacket settled around her shoulders, and she thanked him with a smile.

"You'll catch cold."

He snorted derisively. "Tanks don't catch colds."

They sat is companionable silence for a few minutes, but she couldn't resist digging.

"Didn't see you in the barracks last night."

"Wasn't there."

"So you and the Colonel are ... talking again?"

"Yeah."

Again, there was silence.

"Vansen." the quiet voice behind her made her jump. Hawkes reached out a steadying hand, squeezing lightly before releasing her. She turned to face McQueen.

"You missed mail call," he said. "It's on your bunk."

Shane stood up, handed Hawkes his jacket and carefully stepped around McQueen to reach the ladder. Just as she passed him she slipped. Her heart leapt into her throat as she fought to regain her balance. A hand gripped the back of her shirt, pulling her back onto the rail.

"Thank you, sir." she said.

"You're welcome." From the look he threw over her shoulder, she realized he wasn't just talking about the near fall.

"He's my friend," she stated, meeting the brown eyes. Shane'd been aware of their liaison from the beginning - it wasn't hard to see that Cooper's non-presence in their barracks always coincided with the Lieutenant's presence on base. She knew it had been a convenience for them at first, but then something had changed. And two days ago, things had changed again.

"He's my friend," she repeated.

"Yes," McQueen continued to meet her gaze, until she nodded, and started down the ladder.

McQueen remained standing, watching Vansen retreat, her boot heels echoing in the empty bay, before he walked over to sit by Cooper, looking out at space.

Cooper leant against him, still silently staring into the vast infinity displayed before them.

"I never get mail," he said.

"Neither do I."

"I have no friends to send letters. No family. Kate would have been family. She would have been there for me."

"I'm here for you," McQueen stated.

"It's not the same." Hawkes shrugged, trying to put this feelings into words. "You're there for all of us. I wanted someone just for me."

"She would have had her own life, met different people. You're a marine, and she was going to the mines." McQueen was careful not to speak of the probable life she would have had. The manifest had put her as "service" personnel, rather than mining. He'd visited her tank before they left the ship. Looking at the woman to be who shared so much of his lover's looks, he'd wept at the waste.

"You'd have been as much apart as you are now."

"But I'd know she was out there."

"If you found family once, you can find it again."

"Yeah. 'Dumb but good looking'."

"What?"

"That's what the medic said about my genotype. Said that's why that gene pool was used often."

"I won't deny you look good. But you're not dumb. You received the same education in the tank as all your schoal. You've only been out six years. Give yourself time to grow up."

Hawkes glanced sideways as his lover. "That's not what you said yesterday when you pulled me off West."

"Marines don't fight marines," the Colonel scolded automatically.

Hawkes only grinned, then leaned on McQueen's shoulder as he levered himself up. He held out his hand, pleased that McQueen accepted it immediately.

McQueen's hand was warm against skin grown cold on heat-leaching metal. Without releasing his hold, McQueen lowered his hand, forcing Hawkes to step closer. The same warm hands cupped his face, stroking over smooth skin, following the sweep of eyebrow. Tye moved closer still, brushing his lips against Hawkes, before stepping back.

"I'm here for you, Cooper."

The moment was broken by voices below, and they stepped further apart.

"Wanna jump down?" Hawkes suggested, mischief clear on his face. "They don't know we're up here."

"No one's supposed to be up here," McQueen reminded.

"Oh, c'mon Tye! It's only 20 feet. It's not like we'd break a leg!" he said.

McQueen sighed. "No."

They descended the ladder, walking quickly to the door. "21:00 hours?" McQueen queried.

"Yes."

Next : Part Four - Butts

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