Author's note: This was written for A Love Across Time, the USUK Fanfiction Anthology project on Livejournal. You should all check it out! The link is in my profile. This is for the theme Tomorrow.

Stars

Alfred hung outside of the spaceship, only one hand on the rung of the ladder keeping him from floating out into space. The safety line lay slack at his waist, and as far as he was concerned, it might as well have not been there. This had been his dream for as long as he could remember, to just be here in space, no matter how or why. Seeing the wonder of the universe like this . . . it took his breath away every time.

As soon as he looked back at the spaceship, though, the loneliness crashed into him like a wave.

There was a crackle on his intercom and he turned back to his repair work with a grimace. "Shift change in fifteen minutes," came the voice of the superintendent.

"Roger."

The ship was old. Britannia Angel was her name. She was left over from a time when ships had had names like that – hopeful, grand names. The crew joked that pretty soon she was going to disappear, just like the land she had been named for. Alfred didn't think it was a name about death, though. He thought it was a name for new beginnings.

"How are you feeling?" Alfred asked the ship quietly. He ran a hand over the metal plating and the scratched white paint. "You holdin' up okay?"

Her engines were humming along, just as they always did. Sometimes Alfred thought that it was amazing that they had continued to run for so long, but then he remembered that they weren't so different from human hearts. He patted her. "You're the only friend I have, darlin'," he told her, "So don't you die on me just yet."

After Alfred had carried his tools back inside and shrugged off his space suit, he started down the maze of hallways that led to his room and a hot shower. He was nearly there when he came upon a darkened hallway. He thought he was alone and was about to turn on the lights when he realized that he wasn't alone. Someone else was standing by the window that ran the length of the hall, gazing out with their hands clasped behind their back. They were so still they might not have been breathing. Even though the sound of his boots hitting the corrugated metal floor had already rung out loudly, Alfred paused. He considered going another way so as to not disturb them, but then he realized that he had never seen them before.

"Hey," he said as he began to walk towards them. "Nice view, huh?"

The man turned his head and looked at Alfred calmly. He had messy blond hair, but the rest of his features were hard to make out in the dim light. "It is."

Alfred stopped next to him and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked out at the stars, and the man did the same. "I could look at them for ages."

The man huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh. "I certainly can."

"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before." The ship wasn't exactly small, but after being in the confined space for so long, it was hard to not know everyone at least by sight. They had docked at a station on Earth the month before, though, so it was possible he was a new arrival.

"Yes," he admitted. He looked at Alfred curiously. "How about you?"

"Oh, I've been here since I started service." Alfred grinned. "Have you figured out how everything works yet?"

"Do you have any tips?"

"Britannia, lights," said Alfred, and the lights in the hallway came on. He might have been a little more smug about that than was necessary; there was a light switch, but it wasn't often he had an opportunity to use the voice commands without feeling silly. "First off, the name's Alfred."

The man turned to face him fully. Alfred's jaw dropped. His were green, and his dark eyebrows drew attention to them. His fringe softened his face and made him, well . . . adorable.

"Is something the matter?" the man asked. A slight crease appeared on his forehead. Alfred's eyes dropped to his uniform and realized that he was a corporal.

"Uh, no, um, sir." Alfred had already been halfway through trying to shake his hand before he realized he should salute, so he ended up making a clumsy gesture that only barely resembled a salute. He gave the man an embarrassed look and felt his ears grow hot.

A barely suppressed smile teased at the man's lips. "At ease. You don't need to salute me, or call me 'sir.' "

"You sure?" Alfred lowered his hand but stayed at attention.

This time he really did smile. "Positive. You can call me Arthur." He looked back out at the stars. "So, you've been here a while?"

"Yup." Alfred relaxed and leaned against the windowsill. He set his back to the stars so that he could see Arthur's face. "Britannia is a real beauty. I know she's kind of old and looks a little beat up, but she's a real battleship! Of course she's retired now, but it's pretty amazing." Arthur watched him speak with a strange kind of curiosity on his face. "Can you imagine what she was like in all her glory?" Alfred grinned. "I wish I'd been there."

Arthur opened his mouth, but he seemed to be momentarily at a loss for words. "How . . . Did you request to be placed here?"

"Nah." Alfred shook his head. "Just luck of the draw." He looked down the hall with a soft smile on his face. "I'm glad I ended up on her, though." He pushed himself off the windowsill. "Hey, you want me to show you around?"

Arthur looked slightly panicked. "Oh, no, I really shouldn't–"

"Come on! I'm a mechanic, so I've got access to tons of places most people don't get to see."

Arthur looked surprised. "You're a mechanic?"

Alfred blinked. "Yeah? Why?"

Arthur shook his head. "It's nothing." He paused and went very still, as though listening to something. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. It was nice to meet you, Alfred."

Alfred couldn't hide his disappointment. "Oh. Nice to meet you, too."

Arthur hesitated. "Maybe another time?"

Alfred smiled. "Yeah, that would be cool."

Arthur nodded and left. Alfred watched him go, and then looked back out at the stars. "Britannia, lights," he said softly, and they turned off again. He pressed a hand to the glass with his fingers splayed out, pressed as close to the ship as his skin allowed. "I think I made a new friend," he told the empty hallway. "How about that?"

The next time Alfred saw Arthur, it was a few weeks later and Alfred had stopped by the mess hall to grab a quick snack. It was past most of the crew's lunch breaks, so the room was nearly empty. When Alfred saw Arthur sitting alone and staring into the distance, he took his food and slid into the seat across from him. Arthur looked up in surprise. "Hello."

"Hey." Alfred grinned and ripped open the plastic packaging around his burger. The preserved food wasn't anything like its real counterpart on Earth, but it was the best he could get here. "How've you been? Finding everything okay?"

Arthur nodded. "It's all taking a bit of getting used to, but I think at this point I'm as settled in as I'll ever be."

"Cool," Alfred said around a mouthful of burger. "So where are you from, Arthur?"

"Earth."

Alfred laughed. "Yeah, me too. Anywhere specific?"

"Have you ever heard of Liverpool?"

"Uhhh, that's somewhere in the old UK, right?"

Arthur nodded. "They used to build sea-faring ships there back in the old days, but now they build ships like this one." He gave Alfred a curious glance. "Where are you from?"

"Oh, one of the old States."

"Ah." They were both quiet for a moment as Alfred ate. "What is it like?" Arthur asked quietly, and Alfred looked up in surprise. "Your home."

"Oh, it . . ." Alfred looked down at the burger. After a moment, he gave Arthur a lopsided grin. "Are you asking because you really want to know, or 'cuz you're trying to be nice?"

Arthur fidgeted with his hands. "I've never been to America. I've always wondered what it was like."

Alfred tentatively began to tell him about his home – how he had lived in one of the few rural areas still left, about his family, how he had always loved the night sky.

"Out back of my house, we had this big field. There were no other lights for miles. I could see so many stars from there, I was certain it was the best view in the universe. When I came out here for the first time, though, I couldn't believe how wrong I was."

"Really?"

"Yeah," said Alfred. "Would you like me to show you?"

Alfred put on his space suit and Arthur shrugged on a spare. "All the suits have a safety line connecting them to the ship, so just make sure yours is secure and keep close to me, okay? I'll catch you if you start to fall." Arthur smiled tentatively in response to that. Alfred opened the hatch and climbed outside.

The ship's gravity generators created enough gravity that they could stand on the ship's surface as they didn't do anything to propel themselves forward. Alfred held out a hand and pulled him up from the last rung of the ladder, though Alfred couldn't feeling anything other than pressure through the thick suit. Alfred switched on the intercom. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," buzzed Arthur's voice in his ear. He looked around cautiously as though he might fall. "Do you come out here a lot?"

"Every break I can. Come over here." Alfred led him over to a flat place and lay down on his back. Arthur very carefully did the same. Alfred squeezed his hand. "It's okay. You won't fall off, I promise. Look up." Arthur did as he was told, and Alfred heard him gasp.

Nothing compared to looking at the stars from space itself. No matter how expansive the windows were inside the ship, you could only see so many of them and you always knew there was solid ground beneath your feet. When you were actually outside, you felt as though you were floating among them.

"This is the best view," Alfred said quietly. "I've been looking for it ever since I was a kid."

"Is that why you joined the service?" Arthur didn't sound afraid anymore. He sounded awed.

"Pretty much," Alfred admitted. "Can you blame me?" He laughed a little, and he felt a hand squeeze his.

"Not at all. I would have done the same."

Alfred looked at him, though he couldn't see much of him from that angle. "Why did you join?"

Arthur sighed, a blare of static in Alfred's ear. "I didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice."

"Not always," Arthur said sadly.

"Are you sad you're here, then? Even if you couldn't choose?"

Arthur was silent for a long time. "No, I don't think I am."

Alfred ran into Arthur a lot more frequently after that, more than chance would call for. Alfred still talked to Britannia while he worked on her, but he no longer told her about how much he missed Earth, or about how lucky she was to not be human. He told her about Arthur.

Arthur was a little grumpy sometimes, and he seemed to dislike the captain for no reason that Alfred could see, but he was one of the most wonderful people Alfred had ever met. He always listened to what Alfred had to say, and he never asked question when they weren't wanted. Sometimes he told Alfred stories about the war, accounts that he had heard first-hand. He was a navigator, he admitted at one point, so Alfred told him the Earth names of nebulas that Arthur only knew as strings of letters and numbers. The conversation always came back to Earth, though; what had Alfred's life been like before this? He couldn't seem to understand why Alfred wanted Arthur to tell him the numeric names of every star they could see in the sky.

"Alfred Jones, your presence is requested on the bridge," said a crisp voice. Alfred jumped. Britannia's AI didn't give general commands very often, and it was disconcerting to have an unfamiliar voice coming at him from what felt like every direction – let alone directed only at him. He had always liked the AI's voice, though; it reminded him of Arthur's. He put down his tools and stood up. He wondered if he should change, but it had sounded urgent, so he headed towards the command deck in his grease-smeared uniform.

Alfred had never been on the bridge before, and he approached the doors to it cautiously. They were bright white and slid open almost noiselessly as he approached. Inside, the main crew was stationed at the controls along the walls, and they barely looked up when he entered. He stepped inside and the doors slid closed behind him.

"Britannia, specs," the captain said. He was frowning at a screen in front of him, and as Alfred watched he flicked a strand of blond hair out of his face.

"That command is not specific enough," the AI said icily.

The captain glared at the ceiling. "The engine specifications, please."

"I don't know whom you're addressing."

"I said please, rosbif!"

"I entreat you not to comment on my place of origin through obscure insults," the AI said sweetly. "Would you like me to call you 'frog'?"

"The mechanic is here," a technician pointed out.

The captain turned around and his glare was suddenly replaced by a smile. "Ah! Perfect timing. I am Captain Bonnefoy – no, no need to salute. As soon as this ridiculous machine–"

The image of a person wearing a pristine white uniform suddenly shimmered into being at the man's side. "I am not a machine," the image sniffed. Blond hair. Large eyebrows. Sexy accent.

Arthur.

Alfred stared. Arthur was . . . Arthur couldn't be. Arthur was flesh and blood. Alfred had held his hand . . . hadn't he? The hologram turned around, which was when he caught sight of Alfred.

"Oh, hello again," he said awkwardly. Alfred could have sworn that the hologram's cheeks turned slightly pinker than usual, and his eyes quickly darted away from Alfred's gaze. "I'm Arthur, the ship's computer." He bowed. "Or really, the ship, but you don't need to call me Britannia. I am having some engine trouble, and I would greatly appreciate your help."

"You're very nice to him," Francis muttered.

"He is going to help me," Arthur said haughtily. "Aren't you?" Arthur seemed to take Alfred's shocked expression as a yes, because he continued without waiting for a reply. "What the captain was trying to say is that part of my engine isn't working."

"But please, take a look," Francis said. "We'd like an expert opinion."

While the captain and the ship bickered in the background, Alfred came over to look at the specifications. It did look bad; part of the engine had corroded, and that part would need to be replaced entirely. He bit his lip. The power would have to be turned off. Oxygen levels would remain at normal, but Arthur . . .

He turned to the hologram and Arthur looked at him expectantly. Alfred's mouth worked wordlessly for a moment. He could handle Arthur being a ship – okay, it was embarrassing and probably hurtful if he thought about it for too long – but this was dangerous, and Alfred was just a mechanic.

"Why me?" Alfred finally asked.

"I trust you," Arthur said simply.

Alfred stared it him. "But–"

"But what?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms and looking very convincingly angry.

Alfred swallowed. "Are you . . . really able to trust people?"

Francis burst out laughing. "Oh, of course, but the real question is, does he ever?"

"I am perfectly trusting and able to work with those I like," Arthur snapped at him. He sighed and turned to Alfred. His face softened and a slight smile curved his mouth. "We're about to enter a safe sector where we can afford to be dead in the water for a little while. Do what you must."

Alfred stood in the engine room, waiting for the go-ahead. Arthur appeared next to him and they stood in silence for a moment.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Alfred finally asked.

Arthur looked embarrassed. "I wanted to see what it was like to be . . . normal. I didn't want you to treat me differently." He chewed on his lip. "Did you really mean all those things you said to me, while you were working?"

"Wait, you heard all that?" Alfred's voice broke on the last word and he blushed.

Arthur snorted. "Of course." He smiled at Alfred. "I liked it when you did."

A voice crackled to life over the intercom. "Ready to turn off power."

Arthur stood up straighter. "I'll see you on the other side."

"Roger," Alfred croaked. His eyes were still locked onto Arthur's the moment Arthur disappeared.

Alfred rolled up his sleeves, swallowed his fears, and went to work.

Alfred had come for the stars, but he had never thought he'd find the most important person in his life. He certainly hadn't expected that person to be anyone like Arthur, either, but as Alfred worked on the engine, he was certain that he wouldn't rather have anyone else. When the engine whirred back to life, Alfred took a deep breath. It would take a few minutes for the power to come on in the entire ship–

"Arthur, please come back," Alfred whispered.

And he did.