I don't know how many of you are here from the Sky Captain fandom versus those who had author alerts on me and are waiting for updates to either Firefly or Starfox fics, but I'm glad you're giving this story a go, regardless of how you got to it. For those of you visiting from other fandoms, I have some new Starfox stuff I'll be posting shortly, and for Firefly fans, I cross my heart that Dear Ma will be updated soon. To those of you who are dedicated Sky Captain fans and were wondering about the new face, while this is the first story I've posted in the fandom it is not the first I've written in it, and I have several others needing only final edits. It seems to me like this fandom has been painfully quiet of late, which is a shame because there have been some great stories written for it in the past and posted both here on and on the live journal slash community. With that in mind, here's a little jolt that with any luck will get things jumping a bit.

In any and all cases, reviews are always wonderful. Thanks for reading!
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"Can you believe how fast they've been putting this place back together?" Skip asked, tipping his chair back and glancing out the window of the guard house. "It's been what, two months now? And it's practically all done. That's even counting in the three weeks it took to start getting supplies in here for rebuilding. It's crazy."

"Yeah, I don't envy all them other guys," Tommy replied as a battered deck of cards flew back and forth between his hands in a complicated shuffle. "I heard they've even got the pilots working construction."

"I'll bet they're real happy about that," Homer snorted. "Hey, are you gonna deal those, or just sit there and fondle them?"

"Relax, Homer. We've got all night to play." Tommy rolled his eyes as he began to deal. "Five card draw, sevens wild."

"What're you in such a rush about?" Skip threw in, picking up his cards as he offered a verbal jab towards the oldest member of that night's shift. "It's not like you're winning or anything. Give me two," he finished, placing a pair of cards facedown on the table beside him.

"I'm not the one with the ants in my pants," Homer countered. "You've been staring out that window since we got here. Three." He glanced at the cards he was given and grimaced. "You and the kid we let out earlier, you're both in some hell of a hurry to get away from here."

"Kid?" Skip wrinkled his nose, thinking back. "Only person to leave the base since we got here's been Dex."

"Right. The kid. Raise you two."

"I'll see the opener and your raise, plus another buck. And Dex isn't a kid. To hear everyone else talk, he's a fricking genius or something."

"Call," Tommy interjected, throwing his chips in the middle with the others. He frowned down at the three of a kind in his hand. It was low, but it might do the trick. "How'd a guy that young get to be head engineer, anyway?"

"Probably a pervert, just like his boss. I'm out."

"Up another dollar," Skip said, frowning towards the older man. "And what do you mean, perverted? I never got that sense off of him, or off of the boss. Not that I ever see them except when they're rolling through the gate, but still. Besides, like I said, he's supposed to be super smart."

"Hmm…yeah, alright, I'll see you and call. You're crazy, Homer. Dex is just a nice guy." Tommy laid his cards face-up, heard Skip's groan of defeat, and pulled the pot towards himself with a grin.

"I broke down on the road once after my shift, right?" Skip continued speaking as chips clicked into stacks on the other side of the table. "He comes along, pulls over and asks if I need any help. I wasn't gonna say no, it was three in the morning. Now, I figure myself to be a pretty good hand with a car – my pop has a garage, you know – but I couldn't figure for the life of me what was wrong with that old jalopy. He looks under the hood for all of two minutes, messes around a bit, and I'll be damned if that car didn't start up with a purr. Haven't had a problem with her since. It's your deal, by the way," he finished, passing the cards to Homer.

"All I know is that Mr. High-and-Mighty Sky Captain figures he can just sleep with whoever he wants any time he wants," the oldest guard said as he shuffled clumsily, nearly dropping the deck several times. "Me, I call that perversion. And as close as them two seem to be, could be maybe some of that perversion's rubbed off."

Skip laughed from where he was once again watching out the window. "All famous people do that. Don't you read the papers?"

"That's not being perverted, that's taking a good thing when you've got it," Tommy agreed. "And who can blame him? Some of them women he's been with, oh man, I tell you what…Maybe you're just losing your juices, Homer."

"Like hell. I'm just saying, maybe it ain't only girls he's jumping between. Sevens wild again, ace to open. You can't never tell with those foreign types."

"He's a Brit, Homer. It's not like he came out of darkest Africa. Sides, you ever actually seen him come home with a guy in the car next to him?"

"Just the kid. He's come back with him plenty of times, both looking about happy as clams, too." He turned to snap at Skip, who had yet to pick up his hand. "Would you quit looking out there and play the game? I'm dying of old age here."

"Sorry. Just got a funny feeling tonight, I guess. Thought I heard something up the road a bit ago." He examined his cards. "I'll open."

"Thank God," Homer breathed as Tommy called and play came around to him. "I'll raise two. I'm telling you, those two act awful funny together sometimes. Like they've got some sort of secret."

"Jeez, can't two guys be friends in your world? Call. Besides, who cares who sleeps with who? I mean, so long as the job gets done."

"You're sounding awful Red there, Tommy. Kinda scary, thought of having a Red watching my back on night duty." Homer narrowed his eyes at the younger man.

"Would you back off already?" Skip barked, throwing his cards down. "I'm out. And Tommy's right - who cares who anyone else is sleeping with? It's none of our business."

"Hey, now, boys, I'm just saying, the kid's a little creepy. He freaks me out." He looked at them, his eyes wide in mock innocence. "I'm just trying to warn you fellows that you maybe ought to, you know, be careful around him. You never know. I mean yeah, he's American enough sounding, but it's not so hard for those foreigners to twist your head around so you think up's down, if that what they want. You two are fine guys, I figure you should watch your back."

Skip stared at him stonily. "He fixed my car, in the middle of the night, and didn't ask for so much as a dime. We had a pretty pleasant conversation, too, while he was at it. He always remembers my name and asks how I am when he sees me on duty. So I'm not really interested in hearing you talk shit like that about him." He stood up, his chair screeching slightly as he pushed it back from the table. "I'm gonna take a look outside. See you two in a few." Shrugging on his jacket, he stepped outside, muttering under his breath.

"I tell you, you try to be a nice guy, maybe warn somebody so they don't get sucked into something dirty, and that's the thanks you get," Homer complained. "He probably voted to give the country to FDR, too, I'll bet. Him and that creepy kid both."

"Homer?" Tommy asked from where he sat examining his fingernails.

"What?"

"Shut the hell up."