Title: Serving the Captain part 4/? Author/pseudonym: Galenn Fandom: Crusade Paring: Matthew Gideon/Max Eilerson; others to follow Rating: NC-17 Status: new, WIP Archive: Sure! Corrupt Data Crystal, LadyMay's archive & WWOMB have ongoing permission; anyone else let me know where it is, that's all. Also archived at my own site, http://members.dencity.com/penemuel/stories.html E-mail address for feedback: uvalpha@ix.netcom.com Series/Sequel: Multiple parts but single story, I think. Disclaimers: B5 & Crusade belong to Babylonian Productions & Warner Brothers. This story does not intend to infringe on their copyrights. It doesn't even intend to infringe on TNT's although *they* deserve it. Notes: Not beta read; first level editing done. Good reviews on another mailing list. Summary: Sometimes it lies... Notes: _words_ are thoughts, *words* are emphasis Serving the Captain by Galenn part 4 Over the following week Max shared Gideon's bed on three more occasions; the last time even staying until morning, both of them too exhausted from energetic fucking. Waking up in the warm embrace of another person reminded him of the times when he hadn't been alone; bittersweet memories making his throat close and threatening to bring tears to his eyes... To keep Gideon from finding out, he had woken his captain up with another incredible blowjob, thinking at the time that he could easily grow to like being the Captain's 'kept man'... Galen had made himself scarce during that week, which made his presence during their current expedition even more irritating -- especially the way he kept studying Max and Gideon as they sat side-by-side on one side of the shuttle. At one point, Max looked up to meet the penetrating blue stare, and had to fight to restrain a shudder at the anger pouring out at him. If looks could kill... Max sighed, wishing he dared point it out to Gideon. He looked down for a moment, then glanced at Gideon out of the corner of his eye, realizing that Gideon himself was staring at Galen and frowning. As he watched, Gideon mouthed, "What the hell is *your* problem?" Trying to hide the fact that he was, Max glanced back at Galen; amused to see him trying to act as if he were innocent. Galen was about to say something when the shuttle dipped wildly and alarms blared. Before anyone could react, blinding light flared in the shuttle and it began shaking. A piercing whine masked Max's cry for help and Gideon's demand to know what was going on, then the shaking and rattling intensified. Max tried to make a grab for Gideon's arm but found nothing there -- instead, he was surrounded by the blinding light, unable to see even the things that had been closest to him. Pain exploded behind his eyes as the sound cut through his skull; he screamed, and then everything went black... The whine lanced through Gideon's head, agony doubling him over despite his desire to get to the helm and try to get them back under control. He could feel the shuttle pitching and yawing violently -- or perhaps that was just what the sound was doing to his equilibrium. The light was so intense he had to close his eyes, but when he reached out blindly he found his hand fastening on someone warm and alive. He assumed it was Max, since they had been closest together, and held onto the arm for everything he was worth. Despite the assault on his senses, he could hear the shuttle shaking apart around him and knew that they were going to die if he couldn't do something... Galen swallowed the defense he was about to offer and stood the instant the light flared in the shuttle. He could hear Max cry out for help, then his senses were assaulted by a devestating combination of sound and light, nearly bringing him to his knees. He lurched forwards, his arms flung out contacting something warm. A strong hand fastened on his arm and he murmured, "Matthew..." He wrapped his arms and coat around the warm body and clung to it, knowing their lives depended on it; wishing he could make his mind work, concentrate enough to cast an invocation that would at least allow them to see... "...Matthew? Please, Matthew, wake up..." The voice wouldn't go away, wouldn't stop bothering him. He wanted to keep sleeping -- it hurt to be awake; felt like his head was going to explode, like his teeth were going to throb themselves right out of his head... "Matthew..." "All right, all right, I'm awake, now *shut* up. First time you've called me anything other than 'Captain' and I'm dying from a headache..." Gideon snarled, finally opening his eyes. "Galen! I thought..." "You thought I was Max, I know," Galen answered softly, untangling himself from Gideon's long limbs. "How do you feel?" he asked, deciding he wasn't going to comment on their closeness if Gideon didn't. "My head's going to explode -- the shuttle! What the hell was that? Where are we?" he asked, sitting up and looking around for a split second before the pain caught up with him. "Ooh..." "The shuttle is gone, Matthew. I believe that was either some kind of automated defense, or this world is *not* as uninhabited as we thought it might be." He saw Gideon looking around, carefully now, at the wreckage. "I'm afraid we seem to be the only survivors..." Gideon's attention snapped back to him, his brows furrowing as the pain hit again, then he asked, "Everyone..?" Galen took a deep breath and answered, "Well, I haven't been able to look around the wreckage, but we appear to be the only..." Before he could finish, Gideon was struggling to his feet and staggering around the smouldering remains of the shuttle, pausing beside the pilot's body to close his eyes. "Max -- where's Max?" he muttered, turning back to Galen. He took an unsteady step towards him, tripping over something and pitching right into him, gasping as Galen caught him. "Where's Max -- he was right here!" Galen wrapped his arms around Gideon and answered, "I don't know, Matthew -- I'm sorry." "Let go of me, damn it," Gideon snapped, pushing against Galen's chest. Galen began to loosen his grip when Gideon went pale again and sagged against him... He carefully picked Gideon up and walked out of the wreckage, heading for the tree line he had spotted when he first woke. Once under the shelter of a huge pine tree, he gently laid Gideon down on a bed of pine needles and stripped off his duster to cover his friend with. Then, he returned to the wreckage and searched for emergency supplies and clothing, finding Max's field bag and a first aid kit, but not much else. On his way back to Gideon, he spotted the headrest from the pilot's chair, and picked that up, too. Shivering slightly, he returned to Gideon's side and gently lifted his head, sliding the headrest under to give him at least some cushioning. Then he rifled the field bag and first aid kit, looking for anything he could use to keep Gideon warm until he had a fire started. Feeling slightly uncomfortable doing so, he pulled a spare IPX sweater from Max's bag and draped it over Gideon, following it with the small blanket from the first aid kit. Then he gently elevated Gideon's legs, sliding the bags under to support them. Knowing he had done all he could for the moment, he stood and walked around the area, gathering as much firewood as he could carry. The shuttle must have been brought down in a relatively clear area, but it had snapped off some treetops and limbs. Some of the wood was green, but a lot of it seemed to be dry enough to burn -- at least long enough to hopefully warm Gideon and keep him from going further into shock. He cleared an area, then carefully dug into Max's field bag for the small shovel he had seen in there. He used the shovel to dig out a small fire pit, then lined it with kindling and smaller twigs and flicked a finger at it, sending a fireball into the heart of the kindling. As the fire caught, he fed larger twigs and sticks into it until there was a healthy fire blazing. Once he could be certain that the fire would keep burning, he returned to Gideon's side and lay down beside him. He had ignored his own headache as long as he could but now that he relaxed, he found his temples throbbing and stars exploding behind his eyes. Something about the force that brought the shuttle down had affected his senses, and it seemed that only sheer willpower had kept him on his feet to this point. He knew that he should stay awake, stay alert to check on Gideon; but even as he thought this, he sank into unconsciousness... The first thing that registered was pain. Absolute, blinding pain that felt like someone was splitting his head open with an icepick -- he groaned and tried to raise a hand to squeeze his head back together, and gasped when pain lanced through his shoulder. "Okay, I surrender, just make it stop..." he moaned, curling up and whimpering when the pain didn't stop. He rolled over onto his other side, crying out when his shoulder settled back into place with a loud crack. The wave of pain dragged him down into the murky depths, then gradually ebbed as the pain from his shoulder faded. The pain slightly less intense, he sank back into unconsciousness. The next time he woke, he was shivering, curled into fetal position in an attempt to keep warm. His head was still pounding, but this time he was capable of thinking, and realizing that he could hear voices nearby. He uncurled and sat up, carefully opened his eyes and looked around. "Where the hell am I?" he murmured, realizing there was no sign of the shuttle or of anyone from it, but what looked like a small group of beings a short distance away. The terrain he sat in was similar to the tundra on earth; short scrubby grasses growing in clumps between rocks and patches of sandy soil, moss, or lichens. He struggled to his feet and shaded his eyes, then looked around, squinting and trying to bring the cluster of beings into focus. Hesitantly, he raised his other arm and waved, then yelled, "Hello? Captain, is that you? Galen?" And then one of the beings pointed in his direction and barked an order in a harsh, guttural language... He let his arm fall to his side and muttered, "Oh dear -- not the captain..." In the split second it took him to decide to run the beings seemed to disappear from sight and the next thing he knew, they were surrounding him. They were all tall and humanoid in form, with pointed, almost felinoid ears, slitted pupils, and thick, glossy hair; dressed in what appeared to be military style uniforms that had seen much better days. As he studied the uniforms and the arrogant expressions that surrounded him, the large catlike eyes that watched his every breath; a chill suddenly gripped him. _No, it's impossible. Their skin is too dark, they're too tall, too lean..._ he thought, desperately trying to talk himself out of what he suspected was the truth. The leader stopped squarely in front of him and spoke in the guttural language the scout had used before, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. It wasn't common knowledge, but approximately nine years before, he had been in the right place at the right time to hear about one of the greatest opportunities ever offered to -- and lost by -- a joint EarthGov/IPX group. As an up-and-comer interning with one of the top R&D offices, Max had overheard a discussion about the last survivor of the Dilgar, Warmaster Jha'Dur, who had come out of hiding and offered the universe an immortality serum in an attempt to buy her freedom. EarthGov had jumped at the chance but before they could collect, the Vorlons blasted Jha'Dur out of the sky, committing genocide and destroying the serum all in one fell swoop. It had always been suspected that the Dilgar, as master genetic manipulators, had engineered some of the troops they sent on suicide missions. Now, seeing these beings that in a general way resembled the Dilgar; who wore their uniforms and spoke a dialect of their language, Max knew it was true... He swallowed and asked, "Could you please repeat the question?" The leader frowned and said something else, and Max could tell she was becoming annoyed with him. "Look," he said, trying to sound as calm as he could, "I'll be able to answer your questions once I understand your dialect. I just need to hear it a little more..." The leader barked a command, and before Max could react, two of the other members of the party grasped his arms and pulled them behind his back. His sore shoulder protested the maltreatment -- as pain flared he nearly fell to his knees, gasping sharply when his captors hauled him upright again. The leader barked another command and his captors lashed his forearms together behind his back, ensuring that his hands were too far from the ends of the thongs to be able to free himself. Once he was restrained, the leader gave another command and they began to march back to what Max assumed had to be their camp, forcing him along with them. Galen was the first to stir, feeling a chill as the fire burned low. Still muzzy from sleep, he snuggled against the source of warmth he felt along one side, slowly registering the fact that his was pressed against someone. He turned onto his side and took the sleeping form in his arms, realizing as he did so that it was taller and more muscular than he had expected; finally registering that it was a man. "Matthew?" he murmured over the brown hair that tickled his lips. Even as he thought he should back away slightly, he felt his body beginning to respond to the warmth pressed against him. _Not *now*,_ he thought firmly, willing his body to listen to reason. He tried to edge away, only to have Gideon's hands close on his arms and try to keep him close. To move away now, he would have to risk waking Gideon, and he wasn't sure he wanted to until he could be sure he was in control of himself... That decision was taken away when Gideon groaned and lifted his head from the makeshift pillow. "Is that your staff in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" he murmured, turning to look back at Galen. "I'm sorry, Matthew -- I was dreaming," Galen said, unsure if Gideon even remembered where they were and how they got there. The last thing he wanted to do was appear to be taking advantage of the disaster that had befallen the shuttle. "I need to build up the fire before we freeze," he murmured, trying to free himself from Gideon's strong grasp. "Wait," Gideon gasped, clutching Galen's arms harder for a moment. "I...oh shit, the shuttle..." "Yes, Matthew, the shuttle," Galen whispered, trying again to free himself. "I'm sorry, Matthew. I managed to stay awake long enough to get the fire lit, then I passed out myself. I didn't see any sign of other survivors while I was getting the firewood." He noticed that Gideon's death grip had loosened, gently freed his arms and sat up. "How does your head feel?" "It's okay..." Gideon answered softly, realizing that underneath the thin blanket, he was wrapped in one of Max's sweaters and Galen's duster. He cleared his throat, feeling Galen watching him as he sat up. "What is it, Galen?" "I -- I didn't see any sign of his body -- but I didn't get to search that well, either," the technomage said, his usual eloquence failing in the wake of his discomfort. Gideon swallowed hard and nodded, then gathered the blanket and loose clothing and carefully stood up. "Anything salvageable from the shuttle?" "Not that I could see -- but again, I didn't really get that good a look." "Not your fault -- if your head felt anything like mine did..." Gideon said, rubbing the back of his neck. Once the kink had eased slightly, he looked down at the bundle in his arms. Awkwardly, he unwrapped Galen's duster and held it out to him. "Thank you for lending this to me, but you need to stay warm, too." "But--" Galen began, then Gideon shook the duster slightly and he knew the captain wouldn't take no for an answer. He took his duster back and donned it, watching with surprise as Gideon tugged the sweater over his head and arranged it until it sat comfortably over his uniform. "It doesn't seem to be getting any warmer," Gideon explained, "and I don't plan on wasting one of the few resources we have right now." "I understand," Galen answered, still not comfortable seeing Gideon wearing the IPX sweater. "Matthew, may I ask you something personal?" "Of course," Gideon answered, shrugging and wrapping the small blanket about his shoulders before they headed back towards the majority of the wreckage. "But, I may not answer..." "Fair enough," Galen acknowledged. "Do -- did you love him?" Gideon stared at him, his eyes wide in surprise. "Max? Love?" he asked, pausing to clear his throat when his voice came out much rougher than he had expected. "I...I liked him -- like him. No one's seeing the real Max Eilerson -- he's not the shallow bastard he wants everyone to think he is..." Galen sighed and said, "You're the second person recently who told me he's not that bad..." "Who?" "Dureena -- she heard something about our argument on the bridge, and asked me if he and I were..." "Were *what*?" Gideon asked when he trailed off. "Fighting over you," Galen answered, glancing up at Gideon to see his reaction. Gideon blinked in surprise and opened his mouth, although no sound came out. He swallowed and tried again, croaking, "Fighting -- over me? You've *got* to be kidding." Galen smiled slightly and shrugged. "Well, that was the rumour, although for the life of my, I can't see *why*..." "Wha--" Gideon asked, realizing he had been insulted. He feigned a frown, realizing the technomage was trying to lighten the mood -- and perhaps he was also trying to conceal something. After all, Max had said... _Okay, now's not the time,_ he reminded himself firmly, looking at the mess that lay before them. "Guess we'd better find out just how bad things are... Have you tried contacting the Excalibur?" He poked suspiciously at his com bracelet before he raised it to his lips, preparing to make the attempt himself. "Actually, no, I hadn't had the chance..." Galen admitted, somewhat sheepishly. He was slightly disturbed by the fact that he hadn't thought to do so -- headache or not, he-- "Galen!" Gideon cried, catching him as his knees buckled. He gently lowered the technomage to the ground, supporting him against his chest. "Damn it, what's wrong?" "Oh dear, that's just not good..." Galen murmured, feeling another wave of weakness wash over him. "I think I know what brought the shuttle down -- there seems to be some kind of field around this world that limits the level of technology that works here...I was able to conjure a fireball last night, but suddenly I feel weaker than I did just before I passed out..." "Were you trying to contact your ship?" Gideon asked, trying to silence the nervous feeling that was making his blood roar in his ears. "Or did I just do that to you by activating my com bracelet?" "Both. Either. I'm not sure, Matthew...And the way I feel, I'm not overly inclined to experiment to find out..." Galen murmured, leaning heavily against his friend. "My head is at it again..." Gideon frowned, carefully reaching up to massage Galen's temples; the frown fading as Galen relaxed against him and sighed softly. "Is that helping?" "Actually, yes, it is..." Galen answered, unable to conceal his surprise. "Matthew, I may have serious problems if this is what I think it might be." "I know," Gideon answered softly; well aware, now, of just how 'techno' a technomage could be. "You just take it easy. We'll get out of this somehow -- I'll see if maybe I can reach John -- if nothing else, he's got to be trying to find some way to--" "And if he does, they will be brought down the same way we were," Galen said, trying to sit up again. "We must find whatever device generates the field, and shut it down." To keep his friend from trying to stand before he was recovered, Gideon wrapped his arms around him and said, "No, Galen, relax. I'm not having you pass out on me..." "Matthew, don't--" "I'm serious, Galen. We're not going to be able to move quickly if I have to carry you!" Galen relaxed back against him again and sighed. "All right, if you insist." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I am feeling a little dizzy, actually," he said quietly, knowing that whether he admitted it or not, Gideon wasn't going to let him up again until he was able to prove he felt better. A moment later, Gideon had eased him down to rest his head in his lap. "Uh...Matthew, that's really not a good idea," he tried to protest. "Why not?" Gideon asked, looking down at him and resuming the gentle massage. "You took care of me, why shouldn't I take care of you? Worried that I'll discover your secrets?" While Galen knew Gideon meant it in jest, he couldn't keep from reacting to what he had said, his eyes narrowing slightly. Gideon snorted and asked, "What? Come on, Galen, you're human; you're allowed to have weaknesses, just like the rest of us." He continued rubbing, expanding from just massaging his temples to a full scalp massage. "Now, relax..." Galen couldn't hold back a groan of pleasure as Gideon's fingers chased the tension away, the headache lessening the more he relaxed and the less he thought. Gideon smiled and continued the massage, asked, "Good?" "Yes, actually," Galen answered softly, "You've got wonderful hands..." Somewhat against his will, he relaxed enough to begin drifting off, curling up slightly to keep warm and get as comfortable as he could. As Galen shifted in his lap, Gideon caught his breath, feeling Galen's head move against his groin. He continued his massage of Galen's scalp, his mind racing despite his relaxed appearance. _What am I doing?!_ he thought, feeling the first stirrings of arousal. _The damned box says not to trust him, but I *do* -- I think I always have...He's so alone -- and now, so am I..._ At first, he didn't realize that his gentle strokes had roamed from Galen's scalp; didn't realize he was stroking Galen's cheek and neck and sliding a hand down into the high neckline of Galen's clothing...Didn't realize, until Galen suddenly stiffened in his lap and turned to look up at his face. "Matthew, *what* are you doing?" He stared down at Galen, at his fingertips tracing a sculpted collarbone; then swallowed hard and murmured, "Letting my mind wander, Galen. I'm sorry..." He drew his hand back and was not surprised when Galen sat up. "Matthew," Galen whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek, "I will not lie to you. Recently, I have come to desire you as more than a friend...After realizing this, I have to think that perhaps Max was correct and part of my antagonism towards him was due to jealousy." Then he paused and took a deep breath and continued, "But you have just lost someone that you care for, and I will not take advantage of that." Gideon stared at him for a long moment, surprised by his openness. _Don't *trust* Galen? This has *got* to be one of the times that damned thing is lying -- now I've got to worry about *why*... But, right now it's time to repay openness with more of the same._ He nodded and said, "Fair enough, but I want you to know two things: first, I am not looking to form any kind of deep relationship with *anyone* on my ship -- it only leads to trouble. Second, until we find a body, Max is *missing*, not dead." Galen nodded and said, "Understandable, Matthew, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too much... We should search what's left and you'll see what I mean." The apparent contradiction of Gideon's statements was not lost on him, and he wished he could comfort the man -- even if he *didn't* love Max, the loss of a member of his crew always hurt Gideon. Gideon nodded and asked, "How's your head -- do you think you can walk now?" When Galen nodded he rose to his feet and offered a hand to help the technomage up. When Galen accepted his assistance, he took the chance to gauge how much he had really recovered. He seemed steady enough... "I'm fine, Matthew," Galen chided, sensing Gideon's doubt, "I'm not lying." "Okay, Galen, then let's get this over with," Gideon said softly, looking past the mage towards the wreckage of the shuttle. Some time later, chilled both emotionally and physically, they trudged back to the tree line and sat down heavily next to each other. After a long silence, Gideon said, "The only one not accounted for is Max -- I didn't see any sign of him at all -- it's almost as if someone took him away before we woke..." Galen nodded his agreement, then scanned the area around them. "The ground is too frozen for any sign of footprints or drag marks, and a vehicle wouldn't function here...It's hard to imagine that he was somehow thrown clear of the crash, but he's definitely not here." "There's got to be someone else here," Gideon mused, staring hard at the meagre supplies they had managed to salvage from the wreckage. In addition to the field bag and first aid kit that Galen had rescued the night before, there was a small toolkit and an additional blanket that the technomage had missed. If they had to be there for any length of time it would be necessary to find water, but the first aid kit had a good supply of water purification tablets so that wasn't as big a concern as it could be. On the other hand, the field that had brought the shuttle down was a big concern -- Galen's technomage abilities were second nature to him and remembering not to use them would be difficult... "We've got to find whoever else is here, see what they know about the field -- they may even be the ones in control of it..." Gideon mused, packing the toolkit into Max's field bag. "I doubt that, Matthew," Galen answered, scanning the horizon, "I think that since this planet was on the list of potentially useful sites, whoever is here now crashed here themselves and the field that brought us down is part of the technology from the original inhabitants." "You're probably right," Gideon said, lurching to his feet. "We'd better start looking, before my butt gets frozen to the ground..." "Agreed," Galen said, standing and shouldering the first aid kit, then picked a direction and began walking, Gideon at his side. To be continued in part 5 Crusade and the characters depicted within are (c) 1999 JMS and Babylonian Production. This story is not intended to infringe on that copyright. Serving the Captain is (c) 1999 Galenn