Wake Up

Despite Mimi generously pouring him a cup of coffee in what she'd told him was her favourite mug Yamato had yet to find the opportunity to taste it. Instead he used it as a means of anchoring himself, clenching the mug tightly in his hand while he listened to the outlandish tale of how Taichi and his crew had come to find him. He almost hadn't believed the story until Taichi had insisted on showing him the photographic evidence on his Digivice.

"How many were there?"

he asked and looked away from the corpse-like faces displayed on the small screen. Taichi solemnly shook his head.

"Too many."

he replied gravely, finding that trying to summarise the victims as a number did little to explain the atrocious amount.

"So, you have no idea why he did this?"

Sora asked him. Looking at her Yamato rubbed his head dazedly.

"I'd never met the guy before. It must've just been some massive coincidence that I was the one that answered his signal. It wasn't as though he chose me. I just happened to be there."

He felt guilty for being unable to supply a better answer and the sad disappointment on the crew's faces only made it worse. He sat in silence, searching what little memories he had of the event to find a more viable explanation but nothing of his brief conversation with Myotis seemed to have any significance.

Next to him Mimi sighed tiredly and leant forward to look at the rest of her crew.

"I sent our report a while ago, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. I don't think there's much else we can do while we don't know where he's going."

"What does he even plan to do with that many people?"

Yamato asked and the people around him tensed. They looked at one another uncertainly, as though passing around a silent message. Yamato had no idea what was wrong with what he had asked. Thankfully Taichi patted his shoulder and reassured him that he hadn't offended anyone.

"If he's going to help us he needs to know as much as we do."

he told his crew and folded his arms authoritatively.

"Fuck protocol and all that classified bullshit. I trust him with my life."

Yamato was the only person present that was unsettled by Taichi's announcement. Everyone else he looked at seemed to have been somehow mollified by his words. A few rolled their eyes and the rest shrugged, but other than that no one looked to be surprised by Taichi's disregard of military law. Yamato suspected that this might be something normal amongst the team.

After confirming his intentions with his crew, Taichi looked to Yamato sullenly.

"We think he might be selling them.".

He announced bluntly. Yamato's stomach wrenched and his eyes bulged from their sockets, quickly hidden by his hair when he averted his gaze. With a panicked grimace he looked down into his mug, squeezing it tightly between his hands. Taichi continued.

"That's our best guess for the time being. He's been selling their equipment at auctions all over the place and he has a lot of expenses that aren't accounted for in his record. I don't like to think about it but...I imagine that humans sell for a decent price, right?"

"Yeah, pretty decent."

Yamato replied without thinking and regretted it immediately. He punished himself with a sharp nip to his tongue. Everyone had gone silent at the statement, staring at him in confusion. From an outside perspective he looked to be only slightly disturbed by his own outburst, but in his head a blaring alarm was resounding.

"You don't by any chance have something stronger than coffee, do you?"

he asked with a nervous chuckle, averting his eyes to the dark, now completely cold coffee left in his mug.

"You're on medication."

Taichi replied and lightly nudged his elbow into Yamato's shoulder.

"Oh, right. Shit."

Yamato lifted the mug of coffee and gulped it down in one breath, imagining it was the vintage scotch he had spent two hundred credits on a few months ago. With a watery cough he placed his now empty mug back on the table and wiped his mouth with the side of his thumb. A warm hand was softly placed on his back.

"What's wrong?"

Taichi asked. Yamato licked around the lingering sediment of instant coffee that coated the insides of his mouth. He took a long, soothing breath and lowered his head.

"If his plan is to sell them, I think I might have an idea of where he's going."

he mumbled and rested his head in his hands, preferring not to look into the eyes of the military soldiers he would be effectively confessing to. They all leaned towards him in anticipation and watched him curiously. When he spoke it was with hesitant quietness and an almost unnoticeable quiver to his voice.

"There's a station I know of called the Digital World. It's a regular sort of market station except that it's outside of any planetary territory."

"You mean it's in the void?"

"Yep. No registered stationary coordinates, no orbit, and no laws."

"Is it a criminal market?"

Taichi asked, edging towards Yamato to better hear him.

"Something like that. There are definitely a decent amount of criminals doing business there - a lot of stock that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else without getting arrested for it. They don't use credits. They use an untraceable kind of digital currency called digidollars."

Sora's eyes widened. She looked around at the rest of the crew in excitement.

"That would explain why Myotis's credit income on his record was so small."

Most of them nodded in agreement with her - all of them except Taichi who stared at Yamato suspiciously.

"Do you know how to get there?"

he asked. Yamato nodded gloomily and finally looked up to see four faces studying him with intrigue and one with scolding seriousness. He nervously gulped down a glob of saliva.

"Sure. Getting there is no problem, but getting in uninvited is almost impossible. The security there is tighter than a prison. They scan your ship before they let you dock, you have to give your I.D. on landing, and that's just to get through the main entrance. There are two circles to the market with. The outer is where basic trade is sold. There's usually some stolen goods there, but other than that it's an average sort of market. Then you have the inner circle; heavily guarded from the outside and a mob of undercover guards patrolling the place regularly. That's where you find all the serious shit; weapons, drugs and...live stock."

Yamato dared not look at the horrified expressions of the people around him. He continued on as though he hadn't heard their distressed gasps.

"The only way to access the inner circle is with a pass or an invitation from an active trader, and I'm guessing that's where Myotis is going to do his business."

"Where did you get all this information?"

Taichi inquired, scowling in disapproval. Yamato resisted the urge to shrink under his piercing stare and shamefully lowered his gaze. He'd revealed too much to pretend that he'd only received his information through rumours and now could only reassure himself with that what he did next was for the sake of others, even if it resulted in his own damnation.

"I've got more than just information. I've got a pass to the inner circle."

he replied, avoiding the question as best as he could. He couldn't ignore the subtle signs of shock in the rest of the crew's reaction. He heard the quiet gasps and saw the widened eyes and received them as further condemnation. Before Taichi could repeat his question he spoke up again.

"But, it's on my wrist remote which is-"

"Back on Myotis's ship, right?"

Mimi interrupted, trying to quickly move along the conversation and hoping that she could direct it in a way that would ease Taichi's sour expression. It seemed that the more Yamato said the more fuel was added to Taichi's upset.

Yamato nodded regretfully.

"It was with me when I was abducted."

"Well, that's hardly a problem. We can access the contents of your remote through our computer."

She said with false cheer. Yamato's face suddenly paled at her statement.

"Say what?"

"The account you use on your remote is linked to your ID on the Earthian registry. We can access all devices registered to citizens of Earth. It's a military privilege - for security reasons, of course."

With a slightly unnerved expression Yamato mumbled 'Oh' only to be frightened out of his wits when Taichi slammed a hand on the table to call his crew to attention.

"Right, if that's where we think he's going we should probably make our way there to get ahead of him. Mimi, can you work on getting that pass for us?"

"Uh...sure."

"I can do that much faster, though."

Koushiro piped up.

"No, you're keeping track of Myotis. You still have track of him, don't you?"

"Yes. He hasn't moved from his position so far."

"Your job is to rest that shoulder and keep an eye on his position. If he doesn't follow our route let me know immediately."

Koushiro nodded reluctantly, rubbing his shoulder in embarrassment where Jyou had wrapped a bandage over the forming bruise. Taichi then turned to Yamato.

"How long will it take to get to this place?"

Yamato, disorientated by Taichi's abrupt switch from friend to soldier, took a moment to answer.

"What are our current coordinates?"

Sora tapped on her Digivice before reaching across the table to show Yamato the series of numbers displayed on her screen. Quickly he made a calculation and looked back at Taichi.

"About fourteen hours, I think."

"Programme the coordinates into Sora's Digivice."

Being careful not to strain Sora's arm as she reached across the table, Yamato typed in the coordinates. When it was done he released Sora's wrist and nodded to Taichi.

"Good. We'll pilot in shifts - about five hours each. I-"

"Will be taking the last shift."

Sora interrupted, looking sternly at her Captain.

"You've hardly slept. You need to get some rest or else you'll be useless. I'll take the first shift, then Koushiro, then you. Sound good?"

"Fine. Everyone, get some sleep when you can."

he ordered before climbing out of his chair and taking a firm hold of Yamato's arm.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Yamato nodded dumbly and allowed Taichi to help him stand, leaning into the arm that wrapped around his waist. He bade a quiet goodnight to the others and they replied in turn before standing and leading the way out the door. While Sora took the left corridor towards the control room, Mimi, Jyou and Koushiro took the right towards their sleeping quarters.

"Hey, Mimi, control centre's this way."

Taichi called out, pointing his thumb down the path Sora had taken. Mimi stopped mid step and pivoted around towards Taichi with a guilty smile.

"Yeah, I know. I thought I'd get the job done in my room. I need to check on my tulips."

Taichi pointed a warning finger at her.

"I'm trusting you with this. I mean it. Don't get distracted like you usually do."

"I won't. I promise."

she laughed before quickly skipping away.

Yamato hobbled over to the bed as soon as they entered the medical room, desperate to rest his legs that were straining to support him. There was no pain, only a feeling of unsteadiness that concerned him. Carefully he sat on the edge of the bed with a tired sigh. He heard the door close and quickly turned to look, confused that Taichi would leave without saying goodnight. But, Taichi hadn't left. He stood with his back to the door and stared silently at Yamato with a stern glare.

"Uh...aren't you going to bed?"

Yamato asked awkwardly, shifting his eyes away from Taichi's piercing gaze. Slowly Taichi stalked across the room towards him, taking long, heavy strides until he stood directly in front of Yamato.

"You need to tell me, right now, what the fuck you've been up to."

he said firmly, keeping his body rigid and tall while accusingly staring down at Yamato.

"Why do you have a pass to this place? How do you even know about it to start with?!"

With uncomfortably forced indifference Yamato shrugged and averted his eyes.

"Word gets around."

"That's not an answer."

Yamato exhaled forcibly and rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? It's a long story, and it doesn't exactly paint me in a positive light."

Taichi looked positively insulted by Yamato's remark. Angrily he nudged Yamato's shoulder with a firm hand and moved his scowling face closer.

"I'm your best friend, Yamato! I'm not asking because I want to arrest you! For all I know whatever you've been doing is the reason why Myotis abducted you. This is crucial to our investigation. I trusted you with my information, now you need to trust me with yours."

Yamato shamefully turned his head. He teethed his lip pensively for a moment, contemplating how severe his guilt was and if it was enough to confess his dark secret. He flicked his eyes towards Taichi and at the sight of his sincere expression he felt his conviction weaken. In surrender he held out his hand.

"Help me up."

he asked. Taichi studied the offered hand suspiciously.

"Why?"

"If I'm going to tell you I might as well show you, too."

Instead of replying Taichi fitted his hand in Yamato's and locked his arm, hauling the other man to his feet with one backwards stride. They fitted together without any hesitation. Taichi slotted his shoulder under Yamato's and supportively held his waist.

"Where are we headed?"

he asked, allowing Yamato to set the pace out the door.

"My ship."

Sora lounged in her seat, swaying the chair back and forth while she stared at the coordinates on the screen in front of her, watching the numbers count up and down. Piloting during long journeys had always been a tedious task. The ship piloted itself mostly and all she had to do was supervise and make sure it stayed on course - maybe check the fuel every now and then. Although the job itself was simple, the difficulty in it was being able to stay awake. Her caffeine oral spray had helped somewhat, but it tasted terrible and no matter how vigorously she rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth the bitter flavour still clung to it. She concentrated firmly on the screen, too tired to think but not at all regretting the decision to take the first shift. As much as Taichi liked to pretend that he was indestructible she knew that he was the one most in need of sleep. Once he was in bed one of the most concerning problems would be solved and she could focus on her job instead of worry that he had passed out somewhere.

There was a momentary delay before she realised that someone else had entered the room. She flinched in surprise when she noticed Jyou's presence and quickly rubbed her eyes that had been drooping shut.

"Hi."

he greeted softly and approached her side.

"Hey. What are you still doing up?"

"I'm not really tired. Is it alright if I sit with you for a while?"

Although she knew that it was only polite and fair to allow him to sit with her, part of her wanted him to leave her alone. She was too tired to participate in conversation and Jyou's earlier proposition had left her feeling slightly uncomfortable in his presence, but she didn't want him to know that.

"Uh...sure. Go ahead. I don't imagine I'd be great company but-"

"I like your company."

Jyou interjected with a bashful glance in her direction. She smiled.

"Then, by all means."

she told him and gestured to her side where an empty chair was. Smiling in thanks he turned towards it only to suddenly realise that his hands were occupied. A mug was held in each hand with steam billowing above them. He looked into each one carefully before offering Sora the mug in his left.

"I brought you some coffee."

"Thank you."

she replied, accepting the warm beverage. While Jyou lowered himself into the seat Sora took a deep inhale of steam and noticed that mixed together with the bitter scent of coffee was a trace of spice. She took a careful sip of the brew and was delighted to find that Jyou had added some of the spice that Taichi had bought as well as the perfect amount of sugar to balance it. She took another sip, this time savouring the taste as well as the flavour's sentimentality.

"How's the piloting going?"

Jyou asked, looking at the numbers on the screen that he barely knew how to decipher. Sora scoffed and leaned back tiredly in her chair.

"Boring. I'm really struggling to stay focused right now. The coffee's helping though, thanks."

"No problem."

Sora let her eyes slip out of focus and watched the blurry line of numbers morph into different shapes. It was hypnotising to watch. Soon her head was drooping dangerously low and her eyes were sliding shut.

"Sora?"

Violently Sora lurched awake and rubbed her sore eyes.

"Sorry. I'm a little tired."

"Is there anything I can do to help? I would offer to take over but I'm not a very good pilot. Do you want some caffeine spray?"

"Thanks, but I already had some. I used practically half the bottle. My mouth tastes like I've been gargling antiseptic."

she laughed, cringing her face in disgust. She placed her mug in the cup holder attached to her chair and stretched her arms above her head, moaning in relief when she felt a pop in her spine.

"I think I just need to distract myself. Do you know any fun games that might keep me awake?"

Jyou took an awkward pause to mull over the question, already embarrassed by his reply before he had even voiced it.

"Uh, well, I don't know if I'd call them fun, per say. With my family, when I was little, we mostly played biology based games. We used to try and make anagrams out of the names of nerves and stuff."

Sora stared at him perplexedly. He didn't particularly want to elaborate. It would be humiliating to do so. It was embarrassing enough to be forced by his parents to participate when he was a child. Bashfully he scratched his neck and mumbled.

"Um...like...'all hogs are spongy'. That's Glossopharyngeal."

Sora choked on a laugh and quickly smacked her hand to her mouth to hide it. Jyou gave a gauche laugh long with her.

"It's pretty stupid, isn't it?"

Sora swallowed her giggles and shook her head.

"No, no, it sounds like fun. I'm just not much of a biology expert. How about something a little less...taxing?"

Jyou averted his eyes and pondered the possibilities. He felt a certain amount of stress in his serious consideration of the request. In his mind he wasn't much of an entertaining or playful person, but he didn't want Sora to know that. He wanted to impress her more than anything. Seeing Jyou's endearingly serious expression, Sora took pity on him. He seemed to be concentrating on the question a lot more than was necessary. She'd only really suggested it so that they might talk about something other than their depressing mission or...a slightly more awkward subject. Quickly she made a decision to remedy the situation and looked up at the window to the universe outside.

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with 's'."

Jyou momentarily paused in confusion before following Sora's eyes.

"Uh...Stars?"

With a smile Sora nodded and coyly glanced at Jyou from the corner of her eye.

"You're good at this game."

He blushed and smiled back.

"Your turn."

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with...'c'."

"Promise you won't overreact."

Taichi, currently seated on the ship's cot and waiting for Yamato's supposedly spectacular revelation, narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"Why would I overreact?"

he asked, crossing his arms impatiently.

"Well, this could be a little...shocking for some people."

"Stop stalling and just show me, already!"

Taichi barked and Yamato raised his hands in defence.

"Okay, okay. You don't have to be all tetchy about it."

Taichi scoffed and tapped his foot agitatedly against the floor. As far as Taichi could see there was nothing of interest to be found in the ship. Most of the clutter had been cleared by Jyou and Koushiro, leaving an empty living space with only a few boxes of Yamato's belongings tucked away in the corner. Yamato lowered himself to the floor and curiously Taichi leaned forward to look over his shoulder. Without looking up Yamato held out his hand.

"My key, please."

Hurriedly Taichi unwrapped the key from around his wrist and dropped it into Yamato's palm. He watched as Yamato ran his thumb across the seam of one of the floor's metal panels before slipping the key into a hidden hole inside the crease. There came a sound of a mechanism unlocking when he turned it and after a moment's hesitation Yamato slid the panel upwards to reveal a deep compartment underneath. He reached inside, fitting his whole arm into the hole, before pulling out a long, flat, metal box that was the length of his torso and head combined, and then another, and then another, until five of them were stacked on the floor beside him. There were five more of them that Taichi could see still remaining in the compartment but Yamato didn't remove them. He slid the floor panel back in place and stood up, picking up the box resting on the top of the pile on his way and standing it upright in front of Taichi. He used his key once more on the top of the box and unfolded it like a book, presenting its contents. Taichi stared in horrified silence.

"You know, it's okay to react a little bit."

Yamato chuckled uncomfortably, stepping aside to allow Taichi a better view. Taichi flapped his mouth dumbly several times, his eyes magnetised towards the alarming display.

"What the fuck did you do?!"

he finally screeched. There were at least nine other boxes like the one he was looking at and if they all had similar contents then the situation was far more dire than he had anticipated. Strapped to the insides of the box in front of him were at least twelve different types of guns, not including the duplicates that he noticed. Some he recognised, some he had seen pictures of on the list of banned weapons, and some were completely new and different from anything he'd ever seen before. His amazement only slightly trumped his outrage. They all looked brand new, expensive and deadly. He couldn't conceive a viable reason for why someone would need so many weapons without coming to the conclusion that Yamato had been up to something very illegal.

He looked up at Yamato, calling on him for an explanation with a petrified expression. Yamato averted his eyes to the floor in embarrassment.

"Okay...so, the whole travelling musician thing didn't quite work out as I'd expected. Apparently Earthian music isn't all that popular on planets other than Earth."

he said with a nervous laugh only to sober instantly when he realised that Taichi didn't share in his amusement. He cleared his throat loudly.

"It started out with just basic trading, buying and selling stuff where I could, but it lost me more money than it got me. So, I started picking up old tech and fixing it up to sell - half the price, double the profits. Then things just kept developing from there, more opportunities came up, more clients with bigger offers, and now..."

he trailed off, hoping that Taichi would reach the conclusion of his explanation without needing to have it put into words. However, Taichi showed no indication that he understood. He continued to interrogate Yamato with his cold stare, staring shamelessly while the other man squirmed uncomfortably under the power of his gaze. Yamato sighed and took a moment to gather his courage before finding the will to meet Taichi's eyes with his own.

"I design and sell weapons."

"You idiot! What were you thinking?!"

Taichi shouted, leaping up from his seat in a frenzy. Yamato raised his hands defensively and took a step back.

"I didn't intend for it to be this way! It just happened!"

"How the fuck does something like this 'just happen'?!"

Yamato forced a sigh and rolled his hands, on the verge of speaking but struggling to start. Words tumbled from his lips in a torrent, merging together and difficult to understand without Taichi concentrating intensely.

"A while back there were these medic crews getting targeted by bandits for their drug supply and stuff and they came to me when I was trading on Hallard, asking me if I had any decent weapons to sell them. So, I made a few alterations to some spare pistols I'd bought to make them more efficient. Then word about what I did got out somehow and people started approaching me - innocent and not so innocent people - asking if I could upgrade their weapons or design them some special ones and money is money, you know? I mean, I was making more money selling one weapon than I usually did with a week's worth of trade! It was crazy! I got myself something of a reputation and more people were making more requests. Some of my designs weren't quite within the official guidelines so I got an offer from a buyer to conduct my business somewhere less-"

"Legal?!"

Taichi interrupted. Yamato shrugged in agreement.

"Yeah, it sounds bad when you put it like that, but for every overpriced pea shooter I've sold on the Digital World I've made four or five great, efficient weapons for the people that need them. I'm even designing self defence specific weapons. Like, uh..."

Quickly he scanned the selection of weapons on display and picked out one of the smaller, sleeker designs. He held it out for Taichi to examine.

"Like this one. Electrically charged low caliber bullets. It kind of works like a long range taser, except that you're able to use it on more than one target. The source of electricity is inside the bullet so you can load the bullets back into the gun and they'll be recharged - usable for as long as they're in one piece. And the bullets I sell for dirt cheap. I'm even willing to let people pay me in trade so they can defend themselves."

He imploringly looked at Taichi, still holding out the gun like it was a peace offering. When Taichi didn't show any sign that he would accept it Yamato placed it back in the case and sighed sadly to himself.

"I know it seems kind of counterproductive, but what can I do? Criminals are always going to have weapons. Seeing the Digital World for the first time scared the shit out of me. These people are selling stuff that should never have been made in the first place and they're selling it to the highest bidders without giving a damn about what they might do with it. I'm just trying to even out the playing field a little - do a little bit of bad for a decent amount of good - you know?"

Taichi watched him with a concerned frown. He looked again at the collection and felt his stomach turn.

"This is really bad, Yamato."

"I know."

"I mean, you could be put away for the rest of your life for this!"

"I know! But what was I supposed to do? This is what I'm good at and...I needed the money. I couldn't afford to fuel my ship let alone feed myself."

"You could have come home. You could have gotten a job in Odaiba."

"Are you kidding? After all that big talk about how I was going to make a name for myself, you think I could just turn home with my tail between my legs? Just look at you, Taichi! You're a military Captain, for Earth's sake, on your way to being general in a few years! Meanwhile, I was trading my Dad's tools for nutrient packs. How fucking pathetic is that?!"

The effort it took to raise his voice drained all of Yamato's remaining energy. He felt his legs shaking violently and dizziness blinded him. Weakly he stumbled over to his cot and fell onto it, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the speckles of white that still distorted his vision.

"I'm sorry. I'm just...rambling."

he muttered, massaging the point at the back of his head where his headache had begun to reawaken. Taichi sat next to him quietly, beginning to calm down now that he had expressed most of his panicked fury. Yamato sat thinking for a moment, figuring out what the best way was to win Taichi's approval. Taichi had always had a nonnegotiable sense of right and wrong and it had often been the cause of arguments in the past, but what often saved their friendship was his empathy. Taichi had always had a stubborn opinion but he would never refuse someone their right to argue their case.

"I know why you're mad at me."

Yamato sighed and kept his eyes shamefully cast towards the floor.

"I'm not proud of being a criminal. I shouldn't have let myself get sucked into that sort of thing. I was stupid and desperate. But, I can't change what happened and, to be honest, I don't think I'd want to change it. Sure, it has its downsides, but I love what I do and I'm a great deal more than just good at it."

He looked up at Taichi slowly, relaxing considerably when he saw that Taichi's expression was no longer as severe as it had been.

"I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but I'm not like you. I don't see everything in black and white. I'm not a righteous person. I'm just...someone trying to make a living."

Taichi studied Yamato's sincerely apologetic expression. He'd listened intently to the other man's reasoning and now he was feeling guilty for being upset. He wasn't angry for whatever reason Yamato believed him to be. He was angry because he was scared. If Yamato had been caught by an authority with that many illegal weapons he would have been put away for a long time - and depending on which authority he had been caught by there would be a good chance he might not have ever been seen again. What Yamato was unaware of was that Taichi's moral code had developed significantly since his time in service. He no longer saw good and evil like he used to. He'd seen good people do bad things and bad people do good things. A woman, scared for the safety of her children, shot dead a man who mistook her vehicle for his own. A man with an arrest warrant for several armed robberies performed CPR on a baby boy that had stopped breathing. Yamato wasn't a bad person. He had done bad things - as everybody does now and then - but Taichi had never thought of him as a villain.

"I'm not mad at you."

Taichi said lowly, bringing a soft smile to Yamato's face.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'm not happy about this whole illegal business but, I have to admit, these are pretty awesome."

he said with a pained chuckle, looking down at the products that both amazed and terrified him. Yamato nodded with a rueful smile.

"You know, it took a while to figure it out, but I think I found my calling."

"I'll say."

Taichi sighed, becoming serious once more.

"I am worried about you, though. Once this is over someone is going to find out what you've been up to."

"I know. But, thinking long term, some jail time doesn't seem like an unfair exchange for all the lives you'll be saving."

Yamato had spoken with a hint of humour but his expression was tinged with worry. The idea of sleeping in a jail cell for the next fifty years wasn't particularly appealing, even with the comfort of having a clear conscience. Taichi rested a consoling hand on his shoulder and waited until Yamato turned to look at him to speak.

"I'll do my best to protect you, but you know I can't make any promises. Maybe, if we pull this off and you confess, we can get you a pardon. You've only been awake a few hours and already you've gotten us on track to catching this guy, or at least lead us to the biggest criminal bust any military has ever seen. That's got to mean something."

Reassured by Taichi's words, the tense crease above Yamato's brows softened. With a deep breath he straightened his back and a familiar smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.

"I'm going to help in any way that I can."

he said with firm resolution.

"I'll tell you guys everything I know and you and your crew have full access to my products. When we get to the Digital World you guys can have any weapons you want - free of charge. Well, maybe not any weapons. I have a few favourites that I'd prefer to use myself, but other than-"

"You're not coming with us."

Yamato almost laughed at the preposterousness of Taichi's statement.

"Excuse me?"

he scoffed, expecting Taichi to break out into a mischievous smile at any moment. No such thing happened.

"You're staying here."

Yamato sobered immediately and a firm scowl cut across his face.

"Not on your life."

"I mean it, Yamato. This isn't a joke."

"I never thought it was."

"You've been in stasis for two months! You can barely walk! You can't go rushing into danger like this, you'll be killed!"

Yamato sneered and smacked away the hand that had been lingering on his shoulder.

"This is personal, Taichi. I have a settle to score with this guy. My pride is at stake."

"Fuck your pride! This is your life we're talking about!"

"What's with you? Have you forgotten who I am? You and I used to rush into dangerous shit all the time."

"That was back when we were kids. Danger had an entirely different meaning back then."

"Bullies, drill sergeants, criminals; what's the fucking difference?"

Yamato snidely joked, becoming more agitated the more Taichi persisted. Taichi pointed a warning finger at him and spoke with obvious threat in his low voice.

"I am deadly serious. I will lock you up, chain you to the damn bed or drug you if I have to, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you alive."

"You wouldn't dare."

Taichi leaned in menacingly, baring his teeth with ferocious intent.

"Try me."

he snarled and fought Yamato's piercing glare with his own, equally as fearsome. Both strained to make the other look away first, standing their ground firmly like two territorial beasts. There was no victor. Taichi didn't look away, but his eyes softened.

"It's been almost five years."

he uttered sombrely.

"Five years and the first thing I see of you is on a criminal's ship, knocked out, ready to be gutted or sold as a slave. Do you have any idea what that was like? I didn't know if I could save you. I didn't know if you were alive. You are not allowed to die until we get back to Earth."

Being reminded of his weakness infuriated Yamato. He was no victim and he refused to allow Taichi to see him that way. With more force than he had anticipated he reached out to snatch the medal around Taichi's neck, unintentionally yanking the other man forward in the process.

"What do you think this is?"

he said and, dangling the silver coin by its chain, held it before Taichi's eyes that were wide with shock.

"Whose name is on this medal?"

Taichi cringed in embarrassment. He knew the engraved letters well. He'd read them almost every day. He didn't respond, however. He stared at the medal blankly until Yamato eventually released it and allowed it to fall back into place.

"I might not have joined the military, but I'm as much a soldier a you are. We went through training together, remember? Three out of five times I kicked your ass when we sparred."

"Two out of five, actually."

Taichi mumbled petulantly. With a tut Yamato rolled his eyes, silently disagreeing. Overcoming the urge to regurgitate an old argument, Yamato continued on.

"If you want to catch this guy you're going to need my help. If anything, I'm the person that's least likely to get in trouble. I'm the one that's crime savvy. Without me you guys would get caught before you even make it to the market."

he said arrogantly, reminding Taichi of his priorities. Taichi gnawed on the corner of his lip irritably, disapproving of Yamato's argument but finding no reason to reject it. Everything he said made sense, but that didn't make him feel any more reassured. Sulkily he turned his head away and huffed, still listening but becoming less willing to acknowledge Yamato's words. Yamato sighed at Taichi's childishness but was unrelenting in his pursuit of approval.

"You've got to start having faith in me, Taichi. You're right. We're not kids anymore, but I've lived this long on my own for a reason. I can look after myself and I can be every bit as stubborn as you are."

Taichi scoffed at the mention of Yamato's stubbornness. He was right. Yamato was every bit as tenacious as he was and that amount twice over. He looked up at Yamato and saw an arrogant smirk.

"You and I should stick together from now on. After all, we made a pretty good team, didn't we?"

Taichi tensed his lips to force away the smile that nearly emerged. Memories surfaced of two rowdy boys urging each other forward through obstacle courses, standing back to back against a circle of opponents and tackling each other onto sparring mats deep into the night. They had never been just 'a pretty good team'; they had been the best. In the academy they had been practically undefeatable. For everything one lacked the other compensated. Taichi was strong and resilient while Yamato was fast and agile. Taichi was a pilot and Yamato a marksmen. Together they were a single, unstoppable soldier.

"Fuck it."

Taichi laughed. Suddenly his arms were tightly wound around Yamato's neck and a warm chest was pressed against him. Yamato was startled by the sudden embrace but accepted it immediately.

"No wonder we don't get along. You never listen to me."

Taichi snickered quietly, with hints of both endearment and frustration in his voice. Yamato wrapped his arms around his waist and turned his head into Taichi's neck. He sighed, relaxing his tired body into Taichi's arms.

"I think we get along pretty well.

he replied, smugly smiling to himself. He felt himself dozing off in Taichi's embrace, overwhelmed by the relief of not having to support his own sore body.

"We should probably head back. We could both use some sleep."

he mumbled, sluggishly pulling away and blinking rapidly his drooping eyes. Taichi looked around the small living space of Yamato's ship and shrugged.

"Why don't we just sleep here? You're exhausted, right? We could camp here like we used to do."

Yamato chuckled, thinking back on their ritual sleepovers as kids, when his ship had been only a skeleton with an idea attached to it.

"Are you going to try and share my bed like you used to do, too?"

he replied with a cocky but lethargic smirk.

"Maybe. It's not like you were ever able to stop me."

"True."

Without needing to discuss the idea any further, Taichi arranged himself at the back wall and wriggled onto his side.

"Get in here."

he invited, jokingly stroking his hand across the empty space of cot he had left for Yamato to occupy. Compared to two young boys sharing a bed it was a very different experience for two grown men to try to do the same thing. One important factor in this issue was their distinct difference in size. As boys Yamato and Taichi had been able to fit comfortable in the cot with room to spare. As they were now, Yamato had only barely managed to balance himself on the side of the bed while most of his left side was hanging over the floor.

"This is just like our last night together, isn't it?"

Taichi commented and Yamato chortled in reply.

"Almost. Back then we used to actually fit in this bed. My arse is hanging off the edge."

"Oh, sorry. Here. Scoot over."

Taichi turned on his side and pressed his back flat against the wall behind him, giving Yamato just enough space to roll the rest of his body onto the cot. They laid face to face, breathing in what the other breathed out.

"Thanks."

Yamato muttered tiredly and leaned into Taichi's warmth. The blanket, that had been bundled up at the end of the cot, was pulled over their shoulders. Yamato thought to himself that his cot had never been as comfortable as it seemed in this moment. There was just enough left of the painkillers in his system to numb most of his pain and soften the cots stiff bedding. He was warm, too. The bed that he'd normally need to swamp with layers of blankets and clothes was now the perfect temperature to ease him into sleep. Happily he edged that little bit closer to Taichi until his forehead nudged Taichi's hands resting between them.

"If it's any consolation...I have absolutely no intention of becoming a General."

Taichi mumbled. At first Yamato wasn't sure if Taichi was talking to him or to himself. He opened his eyes with a confused raise of his brows.

"Really? But...wasn't that the whole reason you enrolled?"

"Are you kidding?"

Taichi snorted in reply, opening his own eyes to Yamato.

"I learned enough about the job from my dad. Generals just sit behind desks, make plans and give orders. Could you imagine me in a job like that? I would be bored as hell, not to mention terrible at it. I can barely control a crew of four let alone a whole fleet. Most of the time I'm just winging it. I fuck up missions all the time and get them into all sorts of trouble. I don't know why they still work with me. If I had me for a Captain I would have requested a transfer within the first week."

he said with an embarrassed laugh. Yamato smiled in response.

"I think you're probably a lot better than you think. Your crew respect you. I can tell."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. They seem like good people. I'm glad you found a good crew."

Yamato said with a sleepy nod, fighting to keep his eyes open. For a good while Taichi silently stared into his eyes with a thankful smile. Covertly he wrapped an arm around Yamato's waist and pulled him closer towards him. Yamato automatically tucked his hands tighter into his chest and settled comfortably under the arm wrapped around him. With a happy sigh he closed his eyes.

"I meant what I said when we were kids."

Taichi whispered and shuffled down deeper into the bed so that his nose was level with Yamato's. When Yamato opened his eyes again his vision was covered by warm, hazel brown.

"My plan has always been to come home"

The hand resting on Yamato's back stroked tender lines across his spine.

"and to take you with me, whether you like it or not."

The empty space between them diminished slowly and eventually closed. Taichi's lips touched lightly to Yamato's. This wasn't the first time they had kissed; this was a tribute to their first. Two boys, the night before they were destined to be parted, shared a kiss in the belly of a grounded ship. Now, almost five years later, two men shared their second. It wasn't a passionate or memorable kiss by far. It was comfortable, soft and chaste; barely a press of lips against lips. Neither of them questioned its meaning. When it ended they simply curled around each other and fell asleep, as though it had never happened.

The pinkish tint of the LED lights had always worked to soothe Mimi. Whenever she was stressed or worried all she needed to do was retreat to her room, bask in the pink glow and sweet fragrance, and all her anxieties would be forgotten. As much a she wished she could let her flowers thrive freely in an open space, she knew that such a thing was impossible. They were Earth flowers; their natural habitats had been destroyed. They only way they could be cultivated now was in a strictly controlled environment, which is why she had dedicated her whole room to growing them. She had linked a hose to the sink in her bathroom to water them according to a schedule; she'd repositioned the air conditioning over the plants that needed to be kept cool; and her wardrobe had been completely taken apart and repurposed. The clothing rack was used as a climbing frame for her ivy, the wooden shelves had been perforated and used to drain the excess water from the soil, and the unit itself was used for the few flowers that needed shade. She practically lived in a garden. Her cot and computer desk were the only pieces of furniture that hadn't been taken apart or covered in soil.

Happily she studied the blooming plant life. She playfully brushed her fingers along of the Parthenocissus Quinquefolia that climbed the wall beside her bed.

"Hey, Palisa. How're you doing? Those leaves are looking lovely and green."

she spoke kindly, lifting a handful of leaves to inspect the black berries that had begun to ripen on the vines. She looked around at her collection and her heart swelled with pride. A room filled with colourful faces looked back at her, smiling in their own, unique way. Her plants were like a family that always welcomed her home.

She tended to them lovingly, measuring the water precisely before supplying it to the plants that needed it and distributing nutrient pellets. As she went along the rows, meeting the unique needs of each species and genus, she checked their progress and mentally noted how their environment needed to be adjusted in accordance with their growth status. Finally she came face to face with her most precious child: her pink Pixie Lilly. As far as she knew it was one of the only ones left of its kind. A single bulb had cost her six hundred credits in a foreign market - the same amount as half a year's worth of food. At the time she had been more than happy to make the exchange and didn't hesitate in the slightest. Watching it slowly bloom, feeding on her love and care, was one of her greatest achievements. It wasn't necessarily because it was difficult to grow or a fragile plant. On the contrary, it was a sturdy and very healthy flower that, if treated well, would last for years. Its value to her was of a more sentimental nature. She remembered reading the botanical legal list when she was younger that told her which plants were eligible for protective cultivation. She remembered comparing the list to her plant encyclopaedia and thinking how unfair it was that out of the thousands of names in the book only two pages worth of names had been chosen. How could someone decide what was and wasn't worthy of life? It felt like deciding between your children which one was most worthy of love. Her Pixie Lily had not been deserving of a place on the list. It had no environmental benefits or recyclable properties. According to the list it was a purely aesthetic plant that would do little more than waste resources to cultivate. Mimi saw something of herself in the helpless, disesteemed flower. Perhaps that was why she had become so attached to it.

With a smile she petted its leaves and watered its base just enough to wet the roots. After she had finished the routine she almost thought to take a nap until she realised that there was a job she had yet to do. Quickly she scurried to the computer in the corner and set about her task, her fingers flying across the keyboard to make up for the time she'd dedicated elsewhere. A job like this would normally take only a few minutes, but for some reason there was something not quite right about the information she was finding. She squinted in confusion at the large screen mounted on her wall and continued to type, her frown deepening in severity every time the notification flashed 'Profile not available'. She checked to see if the information she was searching for was correct and tried again, but the same thing happened again: 'Profile not available'. As she was becoming more frustrated with the lack of results she considered that maybe her computer was broken somehow. It looked to be in complete working order but there was one persistent and unreasonable error that could not be worked through. Just as she was about to abandon her efforts and leave to try again at her computer in the command centre a different notification flashed in the corner of the screen; a reply from HQ to her report. She skimmed the longwinded message and as she did her eyes widened in disbelief and panic. Not caring to turn off the computer she leapt out of her chair and dashed to the door. At a frenzied pace she stormed down the passageway, all the while typing on her Digivice. She opened communication with Koushiro and pressed the receiver deeper into her ear while she waited for a reply. Koushiro answered with a tired slur.

"Receiving."

"Koushiro, meet me in the command centre. Something weird is going on."

Oh, man, guys. I'm sorry for such a long wait between chapters. My life has gone shit side up right now and things are just o;wehrewofhcwnenhfrcowe;ochfnwqouehfv;urhubh...Job is fucked, family is fucked, social life is fucked. What I've got left right now is reasonable health and a laptop.

On the plus side, I gave up smoking! "Woohoo!"

On the down side, I gave up smoking..."Woohoo?"

BUT ANYWAY! Here it is...this thing. I haven't proofread it, as per usual. I've got a sort of project that I'm putting most of my attention into at the moment, so I haven't given as much time to my writing as I should, BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP! Even if I don't sleep properly for the next year! I will never abandon my babies! I'm just going to be a bit slow updating (not that that's much of a change from how I usually am)

I hope you like this chapter and things are good for you all. Thanks for all of your support. Let me know how you guys are doing and what you think. I love hearing from y'all. :)

Happy February time to all!

Bed. Of. Nails. And. Sandpaper

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