Chapter One: Bittersweet Betrayal

Slippy hummed as he fiddled with his tablet while sitting across from Fox. The melody was interrupted each time he reached for his mug of tea, and in turn was replaced by a soft sipping noise. Fox tapped his claws on the table as he watched his friend, who was seemingly oblivious of the severity of their current situation.

"Do you want some tea too, Fox?" The offer seemed like a taunt given Fox's state of mind, but he knew better than to assume the worst from his friend.

"No, thanks."

Slippy hummed again, but this time in a more pensive manner. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

"No, thanks," Fox repeated, more tired this time. Talking would not bring Krystal back to the team. Talking would not fix this whole situation. Talking would not fix him.

Fox checked the clock above the door of the kitchen for the tenth time. He needed only to wait five minutes more until they reached their destination: the last place Krystal's stolen Arwing had been active. And yet, each passing second was too long for him to just wait.

"OK, fine, I'll have some of the tea." Fox sighed, defeated by his own boredom.

Slippy's excited grin told him he was in for a long nerdy ramble. "Of course!" The toad stood and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. He settled it in front of Fox and poured a steaming stream of golden liquid into it. Fox watched every second, his claws stabbing into his own palms in anticipation.

But when it was finally poured, Fox hesitated drinking it. Looking at the clock once more, he saw only one minute had passed. He sighed and took a sip.

Twisting his lips in disgust, he put the mug down. "Bitter," he explained.

Slippy smiled. "It's not for everyone, yeah."

"Why do you drink this?"

Staring into his own mug, Slippy pouted. "I like the bitterness. A lot of people like it too. I can't explain why. I just do."

Fox curled his lips in a half smile. Slippy had his own unique tastes. Like his intense fixation over robotics, it was what made him who he was. And it was also what made him so precious to the team. Living evidence of that was ROB, Slippy's most prized creation. The robot was a godsend to the maintenance of the Great Fox. Automated repairs and cleaning was a luxury they could never give up on now that the team had gotten used to it.

And it was ROB's robotic voice that echoed from the intercom, interrupting Fox's train of thought as it announced their arrival:

"Approaching unknown vessel. A communication channel could not be established."

At last, he could resume his pursue of Krystal and Fay. Or rather, he could feel like he was actually pursuing them instead of waiting for the Great Fox to fly there on its own. He could do something about it other than thinking about how he failed Krystal. And Fay for that matter. But mostly Krystal.

The betrayal had hurt more than anything she could have done to him. Was that how she felt when they split up?

"Hey, you two!" called Falco as he burst into the kitchen. "Come check this place out."

As the three of them arrived at the bridge, Fox's jaw opened on its own. "What is that?" he asked as he stared into a gigantic satellite slowly spinning among the asteroids of Meteo. Krystal was there? It would take ages to find her!

"It looks like an illegal colony," offered Slippy. "If they aren't contacting us, it might be because they don't want to attract attention from passing official vessels."

Fox grew impatient. If he had to find two fugitives inside such a big colony – one of them with telepathic abilities – he had better start ASAP. "I'll go look from the inside. Falco, you take lookout to see if Krystal comes out. Slippy you keep figuring out more about this place from here and wait for my report."

"Roger!" said Slippy and Falco in unison.

The couch smelled of plastic and linen, as if no one had ever laid down in it and it had just been unwrapped. Krystal sighed in satisfaction at the soft caress of its texture on her fur.

"It's perfect."

Purring in satisfaction, Panther answered her with a grin. His fangs protruded from his lips and his nose huffed an amused breath. "I am glad it is to your pleasing, princess."

Krystal rolled her eyes. "Don't call me that." Knowing that if she stayed down any longer she would not be up for hours, she stretched and sat up. Resting would have to wait until later.

"My apologies," said Panther as he walked around the kitchen counter behind her. As he fussed with pans and dishes, he went on: "But I understand you are royalty where you are from, are you not?"

Hugging her knees, Krystal felt like talking about anything but her past. "Where I'm from doesn't exist any more."

She could feel the strong curiosity coming from Panther's mind. "Would you care to–"

"No."

And she could feel his hurt as well as he conceded: "I see."

Krystal wanted to tell him all about her lost home. It just hurt too much to talk about it. The tall halls of the palace, and the glistening lights of the glass ceiling. The delicious food she missed so dearly. And her mother, the last person she saw before going to outer space. Her parting words, desperate.

"Go live your own new life, my dearest."

And there she was, finally, living by her own choices. Not stranded along a team, but working for her own name. She worked hard for Wolf to recognize her and accept her, and she would not have it any other way.

And just now she had gotten her first reward for her efforts: a new apartment, a new couch, the delicious smell of sugar and vanilla...

"Panther, wait, what and why are you cooking?"

Panther huffed a proud and amused sound just as he added some eggs to a large bowl full of dough. "Why, it will be dinner in but a few hours, and I must get started on dessert."

"Dessert? I don't need dessert, and I can cook my own–"

"I am sure you can, Krystal," interrupted Panther. She noted his effort in not calling her any pet names. "But we simply must celebrate our newest team member, must we not? I thought a nice banquet might be in order now that Wolf officially recognizes you."

She stood. Krystal could feel his intentions were genuine, and so was willing to accept his gesture. But the moment was not the best. "Wolf ordered me to stay on lookout tonight. I need to make sure I wasn't followed."

Panther's dough-mixing hands slowed down for a moment before he went on. "Then I shall only do preparations today. We feast tomorrow."

Krystal smiled. "I'll give you a hand with it then."

He grinned as he pulled his bowl away, like it was a toy he would not share. "Nonsense! This is my gift to you. You cannot help."

Fox did not infiltrate the colony as much as he just walked through the front door. As he parked his Arwing in the hangar, which had its doors wide open for anyone, there were two things he noticed.

The first was that no one pointed any guns at him at any time. In fact, there was only one person to even care about his arrival. As Fox parked his ship and climbed down its hull, a uniformed thin and tall monkey greeted him with an eye roll and a monotonic greeting:

"Welcome. All weapons must be checked in. You can have them back when you leave."

Although hesitantly, Fox complied and handed him his blaster. "What is this place?"

"We call it The Haven."

The second thing he noticed was the other Arwing among the many other ships in the hangar. The one Krystal had stolen from him. If Krystal was still there, there was still time to find Fay. Probably.

A further glance around the hangar told him that he would not find anything there but ships and security personnel. On his way looking for an exit, Fox stumbled upon an alligator who sized him up and down before directing him to the elevators.

"Communal floor," she informed him. Figuring it was worth a shot to check it out, he complied.

The communal floor was a small city inside the middle floor of the colony. It was an enormous circular structure, with a luminescent dome for a ceiling. It painted the many buildings below with a bright orange colour that simulated late afternoon hours.

Fox was lost in minutes. His calls for help to Slippy went unanswered as he wandered the place in search of Krystal and Fay. Cursing his comm after many unanswered calls, he found his plan to be a mistake. He soon learned the place was packed with civilians, bumping into him as they passed through the narrow streets of this strange city in the middle of space. Star Fox had not prepared for an urban mission, but a space one.

As he was about to turn heels and go back to the Great Fox to regroup, he stumbled upon a large platform with tall columns for walls. Inside, the light was dimmer and small dark coloured circles formed a pattern on the otherwise smooth stone floor. Bar counters lined up each side of the place up until the floor opened up to a large empty area. And at the very back there was a stage, with a lone leopard fussing with cables around a large speaker.

The leopard's ears twitched as Fox's boots clacked on the cold floor. As he rose from his task to inspect the intruder, his tank top revealed more of his torso than Fox cared to see. He waved Fox to come closer.

"You one of the new guys? You're here a bit early."

Fox's eyes darted down at the leopard's almost bare chest, then back up at his eyes. The leopard smirked.

"No, I, I'm–" Fox stuttered as he thought about why he was there at all, "I'm just lost."

"You should come by tonight then, it's going to be fun." The leopard touched Fox shoulder in reassurance. Fox eyed the hand but made no movement to remove it.

"Sorry, I'm busy, I need to–" What was it he needed to do again? Oh, right. Rescue Fay. Find Krystal. He was nervous, he realized. But why? It was just some guy, probably the manager of the place. He was even being nice, if a bit too friendly. But something about him made Fox uneasy.

"Well," said the leopard as he retracted his hand from Fox's shoulder and went back to his sound cables, "If you change your mind, come order a drink later. I'll be here. We can get lost together." He winked.

Lost together? What kind of line was that? Was it a tactic to attract customers?

"Sure," answered Fox. He had, however, no intention of coming back.

As Fox desperately left what he figured to be a night club, his heart was pounding in adrenaline and his thoughts were clouded by a sudden inexplicable feeling of dread. He ran to a nearby empty alley and crouched in the shade, back against the wall, as he tried to breathe.

Breathing, in fact, was harder than it should be. His inhalations were cut off by involuntary shivers, and the panic of suffocating invaded his thoughts at each failed breath. He was going to die, alone, and Falco and Slippy would never know. And Krystal would die too when she would inevitably be caught by the Cornerian army, and tried for kidnapping the daughter of one of the most richest men in the Lylat System.

And it was all his fault. If only he had been a better boyfriend, if only he had not ran away that night, if only he had been a better man, none of this would be happening. Now Krystal was a criminal, Star Fox was broke and almost disbanding... And it was all his fault.

"Hey, dude, are you OK?"

Jumping up in surprise at the voice, he realized his eyesight was blurry with tears. Pathetic, he chastised himself. Crying in public, what would people think? Hero my ass! I'm just a failure! Compose yourself in front of this stranger, Fox!

"Woah, take it easy, champ!" The voice was rough, but feminine. Through the blur of tears Fox made out long pointy ears with tufts at their end. He fought the dizziness of standing fast as he dried the tears on his sleeves, disoriented, but on guard.

Below the ears, patterns of black fur made out arrows that shaped eyebrows against orange fur. Large eyes and an warm smile told him this stranger was trying to be friendly.

"Come on, I'm not gonna rob you. We don't do that here," said the lynx, "I just want to make sure you're OK."

Is what something a robber would say, thought Fox. But he was too dizzy to either pick a fight or run away. "I'm fine."

"All right, good," she conceded, "But let me treat you to a hot chocolate, at least. You look like you need it."

Fox considered for long moment his bed back in the Great Fox, then he felt his trembling legs and shaking hands. He was in no condition to fly. "Fine. Thank you."

She grinned and pat his shoulder with more force than Fox had anticipated. "Let's walk! I work right around the corner."

"You work here?" He forced his legs to follow her as she led him down the street towards a two story building with glass walls. "In this colony, I mean."

"Yeah, it's a kind of new thing for me too," she explained, "I'm not welcome where I'm from any more."

Fox considered what would make someone start a business in an illegal hidden colony in the middle of nowhere. "What's your name?"

"Miyu," she told him. "We're here."

'Here' was a library. The door jingled a shopkeeper's bell as Miyu led Fox through the threshold and motioned to a chair near the reception desk.

"So," said Miyu as she walked to a nearby vending machine and started pressing buttons. "What were you doing in that alley?"

Fox realized that this whole situation would never have happened in Corneria, or in any city whatsoever. No one suddenly talked to people on the streets, especially if they were acting strange. What did she want from him?

"Nothing."

Miyu grabbed the cup the machine dispensed and offered it to Fox. He grabbed it and held it on his lap, but did not drink. Instead, he glared at the slight movements of the liquid caused by his trembling hands.

"You were shaking when I talked to you."

It dawned on him how ridiculous it all was. There was no reason for his sudden breakdown; he was fine! He would find Krystal and he would convince her to give Fay up so he could resume his mission and get paid. And Star Fox was fine, too! Slippy and Falco were still there for him. There was no reason at all to panic like he did. There never was.

"It's stupid. I'm fine, really."

After a moment of silence, Miyu sighed. "You know, I know this girl," she said, "And she's always saying she's fine. Her dad is an absolute bastard. The dude is super rich and think he's the shit. And he was constantly putting her down. But most of all, he hated she was on good terms with a lowlife like me.

"Before I left, and I absolutely had to leave, I could see how much she wanted to come with me. But she told me, 'It's fine, I'm OK.'. And I listened, like the idiot that I am, so I didn't bring her here. As I flew away, I turned around and saw her crying like I had never seen before. And now I'm here. All alone, without her. Lonely as fuck."

"So." She sighed again. "Don't say you're fine if you aren't."

Fox looked back down at his hands, now still. He was perfectly fine, so why had he panicked like that? It was like the guy who was crying and shaking on an alley moments ago was not him at all. "I don't know if I'm fine," he admitted, "I guess I'm just anxious about finding my friend."

Miyu smiled. "Is your friend here? I might know them."

"I followed her here, so I think she's somewhere in this place." Taking a sip from his hot chocolate, Fox smiled as it reminded him of his earlier conversation with Slippy. Unlike the tea, Fox found the hot chocolate was delicious. "My friend," he continued, "She did something bad, and I'm trying to convince her to go back and fix it."

"If she's here, then I don't think she wants to be found," Miyu warned, "Especially if she screwed up."

"I know." By the gods, did he know. The image of Krystal's distrustful eyes as she stole his Arwing and flew away was ingrained in his brain forever. "But I have to try. It would help if my comm wasn't acting up."

Miyu blinked. "Oh, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Unmodified communication systems don't work here," explained Miyu, "All common frequencies are jammed to keep this place hidden."

It would explain why the colony did not try to contact the Great Fox when they approached. "So there are ways to modify my comm so it works?"

"Yeah, of course. We have to communicate internally somehow."

"Can you do it?"

Miyu considered his request for a few moments before coming up with a price: "Tell me the name of who you're looking for, and I'll do it for you."

It was a strange request to say the least. Krystal's name was well enough known across the Lylat System that it would immediately reveal Fox's identity should he say it. Of course, she had yet to recognize Fox himself, who was even more well known. If he had to, he could just lie and say some other name. "Why?"

"It's silly," Miyu said as she let out a nervous laugh, "My friend I told you about. I kind of hope she came here after all. I want to know."

"All right." It was a fair request. Plus, it was unlikely Krystal was friends with a Cornerian lynx, as she had lived with Star Fox ever since they had met in Sauria. He decided there was no reason to risk lying. "Her name is Krystal."

If Miyu recognized the name, she hid it very well. "I'm sure you'll find her eventually. Unfortunately, that's not my friend's name."

"Will you modify my comm then?"

"Yeah! Just leave it to me." And so Fox handed Miyu his comm, and she told him to wait a few minutes.

It took Fox barely ten seconds of waiting before he started fidgeting. He tried breathing slowly to distract himself, and it helped. Unlike earlier, this time he was calm enough to be able to focus on his breathing.

It was all going to be OK, he realized. He would get his modified comm and go back to the Great Fox, regroup, and continue his search for Krystal and Fay. Sure, they could be anywhere in this big colony, but as long as Falco and Slippy were out there on lookout, everything would be fine.

Several minutes had passed before Fox started thinking something was off. "Miyu?" he called, loud enough she would hear him from another floor. "Are you still there?"

Fox stood to go look for her, but stopped dead in his tracks when the shopkeeper's bell alarmed him someone had just entered the library. He turned to face them and his eyes went wide.

"What are you doing here, pup?"

Fox's heart skipped a beat. "Long time no see, Wolf."

A/N: You have no idea how many times I have rewritten this chapter. It's finally done! Enjoy! And don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapters. It might take a while, though.

Thanks for Rec and MythicWolf04 for the help as beta readers! I wouldn't have done it without you.