[Fic] With a Forklift
Title: With a Forklift
Fandom: Fugitive Alien
Characters: Rocky/Ken
Word Count: 1200+
Rating: G
Summary: Three years after the events of "Star Force: Fugitive Alien II", Rocky pays a visit to Varna Star and runs into Ken.
Author's Notes: This is one of those signs that I'm completely and utterly deranged. I spent today watching the "Fugitive Alien" MSTings, and the forklift song got stuck in my head. Then I wrote slash for a pair of B-movie Japanese sci-fi flicks.
This is the only context you really need. The rest will just hurt you.
You may blame dark_puck and dunmurderin for enabling me.
---
With a Forklift
***
Rocky's heard a lot of good things about Valna Star in the last few years. They're still crazy psychos with the strength of twenty men and a tendency to ignore gravity when they feel like it, but they aren't the raiders they used to be. They're still Starwolves, because God knows you can't take away their right to fight and get into mischief.
Ken had been damned good at that.
The crew of the Bacchus-3 hasn't changed. Rocky's still the pilot, the captain is still the captain, Dan is still the navigator, Billy still does what he does, and Tammy still does what she does. Well, maybe things are a little different; Rocky finds the captain doesn't argue with him much anymore when he says a mission is too dangerous for Captain Joe to take on in person.
This mission has taken them to Valna Star. Rocky hadn't wanted to take it, but what missions he did and didn't want to do had no bearing on what missions the captain accepted.
It's been three years since Ken left, but he still doesn't like the damned Starwolf. The feeling isn't quite mutual; he always got the impression if Ken had disliked him, he'd have been dead.
They've got a few days to kill before the captain can meet with their contact. Tammy volunteers to stay with their ship. Not surprising. She'd adored Ken, and just when Ken started to respond to her, he ran off back to Valna Star.
The others stay on board, too. Their new gravity belts should let them walk around Varna Star just fine, but who wants to walk around a planet full of Starwolves?
Rocky does.
He's gotten a little too used to only seeing alien worlds while on the run from the authorities. It's a little strange to walk around Valna Star so easily. And yet, there's a lot of familiarity in it, too. The Starwolves don't much like Earthlings, and as close as they look to Earth-human, the Earth Star Force uniform makes him stand out.
The leashed hostility is strangely comforting. It lets him pretend he's keeping an eye on them rather than looking for one particular face in the crowd.
It takes a local bar and a drink that could clean the Bacchus-3's engines for him to really get comfortable, though. He responds oddly to these kinds of situations, always has. It takes a special kind of crazy to shoot your own captain, even if it was with a knockout dart rather than an actual bullet. But it takes a special kind of crazy to fly a beat-up old crate like the Bacchus-3, too.
It takes a real special kind of crazy to throw the first punch against a Starwolf you've already pissed off.
He's back the next day, and the bartender looks even less thrilled to see him than last time. Rocky just grins. He can't manage that manic 'I just killed someone and rolled in their blood' Starwolf grin, but his isn't too shabby on the mildly-psychotic end of the scale.
Halfway through his drink, his shoulder-radio makes the irritating buzz of an incoming text communication. He taps his glove to get the read-out.
'What, no forklift?'
Rocky blinks, then whirls. He looks frantically all around the bar, but none of the faces match. But Ken knows he's here. Ken is the only person who would say something like that.
Ken is the only person Rocky has tried to kill with a forklift.
There's the buzz of another text comm, and he taps his glove again.
'You're in a tizzy. Come outside.'
"Tizzy?" He says to no one in particular, then leaves the rest of his drink on the bar. It isn't that good, and whatever game Ken feels like playing is bound to be more interesting than local Valna Star drinks.
Outside, dusk is settling into night, and there's not too many Starwolves on the street. None of them are Ken, though, and Rocky almost turns back to the bar.
There is a soft, very soft, sound behind him, and his gun is in his hand before he thinks about it.
"Knockout darts for Earthlings don't work too well on Starwolves," Ken says, and he sounds like he's grinning. That's better than the alternative, really. Ken never seemed the type to hold a grudge, but Rocky gave him a lot of reasons during their time as crew together.
"It's loaded with bullets this time," Rocky answers without turning around.
"Should get yourself a real gun." There's a whisper-rustle of material as Ken moves, and Rocky tracks movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turns and looks at the Starwolf. They're so damned human-looking, not like some of the other aliens out there in the constellations. Not even like some of the other humans out there. But a Starwolf isn't human, not really. Humans couldn't survive the heavy-gravity of Varna Star without gravity belts.
"This is a real gun," Rocky says, aware he's waited a few beats too long to speak. "Lot fewer people have protection against steel slugs than they have against energy blasts."
Ken cocks his head slightly and doesn't reply. There's something a little off in his expression, but there was always something a little off about Ken's expressions. Except this is more than just the differences between humans and Starwolves.
"What is it about you?" Ken finally asks. "Billy and Dan were terrified when they found out what I was, and Captain Joe was always a little scared himself. Tammy... I don't even know what Tammy was thinking. Maybe she liked being scared. But you- You tried to kill me with a forklift. Then you punched me. You knew what I was, and then you punched me."
Rocky shrugs. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Ken nods, then sidesteps and turns, and suddenly he's a lot closer to Rocky than is comfortable. "You know why I never just killed everyone and took the ship myself?"
No, but he wonders. All the damned time, really. The early days had been rough; Rocky learned to trust Ken because he had to, because the man was always at his back. Not because he wanted to. "Figured the captain had something on you. And he did."
Ken snorts. "It was because of you."
Rocky starts to question that when Ken ducks his head, and suddenly the Starwolf is kissing him. It's alarming and even more alarming in the ways his body and parts of his brain are finding it not alarming at all. He doesn't quite manage to start kissing back before Ken pulls away, but he's left with the impression he would have.
Ken grins. "You could have been a Starwolf."
- Oh, he did not just say that. Rocky buries his fist in Ken's stomach before he stops to think that maybe assaulting a Starwolf on a street on Varna Star is not the brightest thing he's ever done.
"It was a compliment!"
"I'll see you in another three years," Rocky snaps and stalks away.
"With a forklift?" Ken calls after him, laughter in his voice.
Rocky just makes a rude gesture and forces himself not to look back.
-End-
Fandom: Fugitive Alien
Characters: Rocky/Ken
Word Count: 1200+
Rating: G
Summary: Three years after the events of "Star Force: Fugitive Alien II", Rocky pays a visit to Varna Star and runs into Ken.
Author's Notes: This is one of those signs that I'm completely and utterly deranged. I spent today watching the "Fugitive Alien" MSTings, and the forklift song got stuck in my head. Then I wrote slash for a pair of B-movie Japanese sci-fi flicks.
This is the only context you really need. The rest will just hurt you.
You may blame dark_puck and dunmurderin for enabling me.
---
With a Forklift
***
Rocky's heard a lot of good things about Valna Star in the last few years. They're still crazy psychos with the strength of twenty men and a tendency to ignore gravity when they feel like it, but they aren't the raiders they used to be. They're still Starwolves, because God knows you can't take away their right to fight and get into mischief.
Ken had been damned good at that.
The crew of the Bacchus-3 hasn't changed. Rocky's still the pilot, the captain is still the captain, Dan is still the navigator, Billy still does what he does, and Tammy still does what she does. Well, maybe things are a little different; Rocky finds the captain doesn't argue with him much anymore when he says a mission is too dangerous for Captain Joe to take on in person.
This mission has taken them to Valna Star. Rocky hadn't wanted to take it, but what missions he did and didn't want to do had no bearing on what missions the captain accepted.
It's been three years since Ken left, but he still doesn't like the damned Starwolf. The feeling isn't quite mutual; he always got the impression if Ken had disliked him, he'd have been dead.
They've got a few days to kill before the captain can meet with their contact. Tammy volunteers to stay with their ship. Not surprising. She'd adored Ken, and just when Ken started to respond to her, he ran off back to Valna Star.
The others stay on board, too. Their new gravity belts should let them walk around Varna Star just fine, but who wants to walk around a planet full of Starwolves?
Rocky does.
He's gotten a little too used to only seeing alien worlds while on the run from the authorities. It's a little strange to walk around Valna Star so easily. And yet, there's a lot of familiarity in it, too. The Starwolves don't much like Earthlings, and as close as they look to Earth-human, the Earth Star Force uniform makes him stand out.
The leashed hostility is strangely comforting. It lets him pretend he's keeping an eye on them rather than looking for one particular face in the crowd.
It takes a local bar and a drink that could clean the Bacchus-3's engines for him to really get comfortable, though. He responds oddly to these kinds of situations, always has. It takes a special kind of crazy to shoot your own captain, even if it was with a knockout dart rather than an actual bullet. But it takes a special kind of crazy to fly a beat-up old crate like the Bacchus-3, too.
It takes a real special kind of crazy to throw the first punch against a Starwolf you've already pissed off.
He's back the next day, and the bartender looks even less thrilled to see him than last time. Rocky just grins. He can't manage that manic 'I just killed someone and rolled in their blood' Starwolf grin, but his isn't too shabby on the mildly-psychotic end of the scale.
Halfway through his drink, his shoulder-radio makes the irritating buzz of an incoming text communication. He taps his glove to get the read-out.
'What, no forklift?'
Rocky blinks, then whirls. He looks frantically all around the bar, but none of the faces match. But Ken knows he's here. Ken is the only person who would say something like that.
Ken is the only person Rocky has tried to kill with a forklift.
There's the buzz of another text comm, and he taps his glove again.
'You're in a tizzy. Come outside.'
"Tizzy?" He says to no one in particular, then leaves the rest of his drink on the bar. It isn't that good, and whatever game Ken feels like playing is bound to be more interesting than local Valna Star drinks.
Outside, dusk is settling into night, and there's not too many Starwolves on the street. None of them are Ken, though, and Rocky almost turns back to the bar.
There is a soft, very soft, sound behind him, and his gun is in his hand before he thinks about it.
"Knockout darts for Earthlings don't work too well on Starwolves," Ken says, and he sounds like he's grinning. That's better than the alternative, really. Ken never seemed the type to hold a grudge, but Rocky gave him a lot of reasons during their time as crew together.
"It's loaded with bullets this time," Rocky answers without turning around.
"Should get yourself a real gun." There's a whisper-rustle of material as Ken moves, and Rocky tracks movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turns and looks at the Starwolf. They're so damned human-looking, not like some of the other aliens out there in the constellations. Not even like some of the other humans out there. But a Starwolf isn't human, not really. Humans couldn't survive the heavy-gravity of Varna Star without gravity belts.
"This is a real gun," Rocky says, aware he's waited a few beats too long to speak. "Lot fewer people have protection against steel slugs than they have against energy blasts."
Ken cocks his head slightly and doesn't reply. There's something a little off in his expression, but there was always something a little off about Ken's expressions. Except this is more than just the differences between humans and Starwolves.
"What is it about you?" Ken finally asks. "Billy and Dan were terrified when they found out what I was, and Captain Joe was always a little scared himself. Tammy... I don't even know what Tammy was thinking. Maybe she liked being scared. But you- You tried to kill me with a forklift. Then you punched me. You knew what I was, and then you punched me."
Rocky shrugs. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Ken nods, then sidesteps and turns, and suddenly he's a lot closer to Rocky than is comfortable. "You know why I never just killed everyone and took the ship myself?"
No, but he wonders. All the damned time, really. The early days had been rough; Rocky learned to trust Ken because he had to, because the man was always at his back. Not because he wanted to. "Figured the captain had something on you. And he did."
Ken snorts. "It was because of you."
Rocky starts to question that when Ken ducks his head, and suddenly the Starwolf is kissing him. It's alarming and even more alarming in the ways his body and parts of his brain are finding it not alarming at all. He doesn't quite manage to start kissing back before Ken pulls away, but he's left with the impression he would have.
Ken grins. "You could have been a Starwolf."
- Oh, he did not just say that. Rocky buries his fist in Ken's stomach before he stops to think that maybe assaulting a Starwolf on a street on Varna Star is not the brightest thing he's ever done.
"It was a compliment!"
"I'll see you in another three years," Rocky snaps and stalks away.
"With a forklift?" Ken calls after him, laughter in his voice.
Rocky just makes a rude gesture and forces himself not to look back.
-End-