Archive of Our Own ^beta

Deep moans were filling the cramped bedroom, along with wet noises and some curses. Madara couldn’t control his hips, he couldn’t stop thrusting them forward, his cock surrounded in that delicious heat he now knew so well and his hands bruising the hips of his partner. He was rough, Madara knew he was but it was so much better like this. Their little arrangement didn’t exactly include gentleness, at least not during sex and Madara was not complaining.

On the contrary. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

He liked how passive his partner was being also. Ass up in the air, while his face was buried into a pillow to muffle his own moans and groans. Madara was standing behind him, off the bed, his overall engineer suit pooling around his ankles. As for his lover ? He was naked from the waist down, to avoid awkward shiftings and for Madara to be able to make him move if he wanted to. Make him spread his legs further, or grab one of his legs up in the air to change the angle of their fucking. Madara knew his partner loved to be manhandled in bed and he usually happily obliged.

This had started years ago. There always had been some tension between them, ever since they were at school together but they never indulged, mostly because the two of them had been attentive students and school was more important than anything else. Then, they parted ways because they had different goals in life. Different paths they wanted to take and they tried to stay in touch but it didn’t exactly work out.

It had been a surprise, when they were assigned together. A nice reunion after years without seeing each other and Madara had decided to take things in hands. Quite literally, he had taken his long lost friend to a storage closet and had given him a handjob, whispering all the dirty little things he’d do to him when they’d have the time.

And he kept his promise, pulling his lover into hours long sex marathons, to catch up the years and all the missed opportunities. Now ? Now, their meetings had become a regular occurrence, they’d indulge into sex quite often, when they had the time to and Madara was happy with what they had. He was happy he had been able to finally get his hands over this man’s body and he knew very much that the feeling was returned.

Madara was getting close to his climax, as his partner was devilishly clenching around his cock. It wasn’t easy to hold back, in front of such a sight, that pale, round ass spreading for him, for his cock, the sound of skin slapping against skin echoing around the bedroom. Madara was pretty sure they could be heard from outside the door but oh well. It wasn’t as if their relationship was a secret. Sure, it should have been one, it was forbidden but no one truly cared, with how far they were from the Capital. Other people indulged in such activities, Madara had heard rumors about sex parties that happened once in a while among the crew and he was quite curious about them but he wouldn’t exactly ask to be part of them. He liked what he had with his lover too much, there were some shy feelings bursting into his chest, whenever they kissed and Madara knew it was reciprocal. Not that they would ever speak about it. Communication wasn’t their forte but why ruin what they had now with awkward conversations about Love ?

“Mada, please …” his partner moaned deeply, begging for release and Madara focused on what he was doing again, his fingers tightening around these perfect hips and thrusting his cock deeper, aiming for the other’s sweet spot. Of course, it made his partner’s react immediately, he moaned hard, whined, even and he trembled under Madara’s ministrations, until he came, his cock untouched but leaking with a good amount of semen, tainting his bedsheets.

Madara didn’t resist the sight, nor how tightly his cock was being sheathed and he spasmed, as he came hard. He moaned his partner’s name, shivering as he did so, then crashed against his lover’s back, nuzzling at his neck and wrapping his arms around his chest as he did so.

“Fuck,” Madara cursed, kissing where he could reach and slowly pulling his cock back as it was softening.

“Told you not to come inside,” the other grunted, but the soft smirk on his lips showed how he was only half-heartedly complaining. “It’s gross ..”

“You love it,” Madara whispered and it made the other shiver from head to toes. And he didn’t wait for an answer to shift them on the bed, so they could actually cuddle and catch their breath together. He was panting hard, his lover was also and they needed time before they were able to go back to work. They had time, anyways.

Tobirama was the ship’s captain, after all.

Madara often wondered if his passiveness came from his rank. If it had anything to do with his position of power. He always pictured ship’s captains as cold bastards and his experience as a First Engineer always proved him right. Captains usually were cold bastards, uncaring for their crew and all that counted for them was to lick their commander’s balls and receive medals in reward. Not literally, of course. Sexual and romantic relationships were forbidden between members of the same crew and in extension, commanders were part of the several crews they were in charge of.

Tobirama wasn’t that kind of captain. He cared for his crew, to the point he’d disobey a direct order if he had to. Madara saw him do so once, angered with the decision the War Council had taken and he had been terribly aroused with the situation. As an engineer, Madara had gone through several internship periods on other ships and he met with several captains. He saw them lower their head and obey orders, even if that put them at risk, even if it risked civilian lives. Tobirama never was like that and he was known among the fleet for his insubordination. Madara remembered him as one to always follow the rules, to never do anything illegal in fear it might come back slapping him in the face. He didn’t know what changed, since these times when they were at school, he didn’t know what happened. He didn’t dare asking either. Tobirama was who he was and Madara wouldn’t have him any other way.

Even with how Tobirama was a passive lover, submissive even, most of the time. Always had been, probably always would be. Even when he topped, he’d rather lie back and let Madara do all the work. Not that Madara ever complained, he loved it and it worked perfectly between them this way.

So perfectly that Madara had moved his stuff into Tobirama’s quarters, made it theirs, with Tobirama’s shy acceptance. Sure, the bedroom was small and the bed barely big enough to fit the two of them but he liked what they had and he hadn’t been able to resist Tobirama’s shy smile, when he spoke of his idea. Sure it was risque because of that stupid law forbidding members of the same crew to have this kind of relationship. But the crew was loyal to Tobirama and no one would ever denounce them. Especially not when they were in deep space like that, traveling toward a moon to assert if it would ever be habitable, six weeks of hyperspace away from the Capital.

After what felt like hours, but probably was only minutes, Tobirama slowly turned around in his arms, making Madara smile gently as he did so.

“You’re such a mess,” Madara whispered, pushing the hair away from Tobirama’s sweaty forehead, making the captain’s eyes flutter closed again, making him blush a little. “My beautiful mess …”

Tobirama hummed deeply, still high on pleasure and his climax. But he was so beautiful, Madara kept telling himself, so beautiful as he was drifting between sleep and consciousness, as if he couldn’t get a hold on himself and it didn’t matter, if it lasted for a moment. The ship was on autopilot, Tobirama’s first officer was on the deck and taking care of everything and they were so deep in space they didn’t need to worry about enemies. Far from the wars, from the battlefields. And all was fine, as long as no one called for the captain.

It gave Madara an idea. He wanted nothing more but to undress his lover’s body completely, rid him from his shirt and uniform jacket, he wanted to give Tobirama yet another orgasm, even if it meant using his fingers for now, because he needed to go through his refractory period and his cock wouldn’t rise again just yet. But he knew how to give Tobirama dry orgasms, he was pretty skilled at that, even. He loved to make Tobirama become a complete, shaking mess and Tobirama always thanked him for it.

And he was slowly trailing his fingers down Tobirama’s side toward his butt, when Tobirama grabbed his hand gently, placed it against his cheek and shuffled a little closer. The message was pretty clear, for Madara, that was a “no” for him and he pushed his lips into a pout but didn’t argue. Tobirama had silently told him he had enough, that he didn’t want to continue and he sure wasn’t going to push the idea.

It was funny though, how they were able to communicate with so few words, when they had spent years bickering against each other on each occasion they could find. They had said terrible things about the other as well, they had spent almost a year not talking to each other but things had changed, after they both were admitted in Officer’s school. They ended up in the same class and they became friends. Close friends, even. Madara kept fond memories of these times.

It was a shame they got separated when Madara decided to become a First Engineer and Tobirama to go through the hard, time consuming path that led to captainship, to eventually pilot his own ship, with his own crew. And they both knew they had been lucky to end up on the same ship, to be assigned together but, as their referring commander had once said, they worked perfectly together, their test results were complementary and it would have been stupid to miss such an opportunity.

Ever since they were assigned to the Konoha, Tobirama had returned victorious from all their missions and Madara knew Tobirama was on the right path to ever become a commander himself.

He was very aware of the fact Tobirama didn’t want to become one, though. What pushed Tobirama to become a ship’s captain, was to explore the infinite space, discover new worlds, new civilizations. Not end up in a stupid office, sitting behind a desk all day long and drinking all night long because he’d miss space. He’d miss his favorite engineer as well.

Madara couldn’t help smiling, when he felt Tobirama nuzzle closer and he kissed the crook of his neck, tightening his hold on the other man. Oh, he loved these moments. Not that he’d ever admit it to Tobirama, they officially didn’t do romance but it was only a joke they were pulling on themselves. It was very obvious they were in love with each other, that they were more than mere lovers but they had come to the silent agreement to never speaking of these things. The fact they practically lived together and had these moments of tenderness after rough sex was more than enough for them.

“Don’t fall asleep now, Captain,” Madara whispered after a moment, slowly running his fingers through Tobirama’s hair as he did so. “We’ll clean up and end our shift properly, yes ?”

“Yes,” Tobirama mumbled against his shoulder blade, only half-heartedly. For he might not want to leave that place and state but he had a duty to accomplish and their little “pause” already lasted enough time. It wasn’t as if they were on a cruise or something of the sort. They were in the middle of an important mission, in order to see if the moon they were heading toward could become a colony, if it held ressources or anything they might use at all, if it could be terraformed, if needed. It wasn’t just about exploration, but also the survival of their civilization. For the systems around the Capital had been dried from their ressources a long time ago, as the wars raged and demanded more and more ressources with each passing year and this moon might also become a way for civilians to be put to safety.

They couldn’t mess it up and Tobirama wouldn’t allow it anyways.

Cleaning up meant Madara was going to do everything while Tobirama kept lounging in bed. Firstly, the engineer pulled his suit up his hips, groaning as he did so because that damn suit was the most uncomfortable outfit one could ever have come up with. Not because it was tight around the body and allowed engineers and technician to leave the ship quickly and operate repairs in outer space quickly, doubling as a spacesuit. But because of the fabric it was made of. It stuck to the skin, if the skin happened to be even the slightest moist and Madara had been sweating a lot through his time with Tobirama. It stuck and itched and usually ended up giving rashes. Madara had tried wearing cotton “undersuits” and such but it was the least practical thing ever. He wished he could have worn the same kind of uniform Tobirama did, as he too was an officer but oh well. He had known about the suit before he chose his path and it only was one little downside of the job.

He loved his job, after all.

The bathroom was as cramped as the bedroom. The fact it was the Captain’s quarters meant little, after all. The only plus Tobirama had, as the Captain, was to have quarters for himself and a proper, personal bathroom. Officers shared dormitories and two bathrooms. The other members of the crew, technicians and such, lived in dormitories and several dormitories shared bathrooms as well. Tobirama didn’t like that, Madara either but it was how it worked on ships such as the Konoha. It was an old ship, after all. The most modern ones were bigger and way more comfortable than that.

Madara took his time to splash fresh water on his face and chest, using a small cloth to clean the sweat off his skin. His hair was a mess and he’d have to tie it the acceptable way again but oh well. Tobirama loved to pull at his hair while foreplay. He didn’t pull his suit over his shoulders just yet though, waiting for his skin to dry beforehand and he soaked the cloth into water, brought it with him in bed. First, he cleaned Tobirama’s face, his neck, smiling as Tobirama was watching him with a dazed gaze. Tobirama loved being taken care of, probably because he never knew his mother and his father never was the most tender man, after all. Madara didn’t mind. It only allowed him to give Tobirama what he needed, deep down.

Then, Madara folded the cloth in two, slowly slid it between Tobirama’s asscheeks, careful not to linger too much over his sensitive hole now, to rid him from a mix of semen and lube and he cleaned his cock as well, making sure there would be no drying sperm tainting it. He knew Tobirama didn’t like that. Almost as much as he didn’t like the feel of lube on his fingers after preparing himself for his lover. Tobirama kind of was a cleaning freak, sometimes.

Once that was done, Madara returned to the bathroom, he threw the cloth into the trash bin for it to be incinerated later and he retrieved his hairbrush, to try and de-tangle his hair and pull it into the official bun he was allowed to wear, while on duty. Men with long hair weren’t that uncommon among the fleet, Madara knew and officials had to come up with something for them to look proper, to appear perfect while they were on deck or in the Capital. That specific bun had been voted for among the crews and even if Madara would have preferred to leave his hair alone, he liked his job too much to get himself fired.

When Madara left the bathroom again, his hair properly tied up and his suit in place over his body, Tobirama was ready to go. Far from his cuddly, needy and flustered appearance from earlier, he now looked extremely official himself. He had pulled his uniform back together, he had clothes his shirt’s and jacket’s buttons Madara almost ripped off early to access his neck and collarbones properly, he was wearing pants again. The whole thing looked impractical and uncomfortable and Madara knew for a fact it was. They had gone through roleplay before and Madara had wore the uniform himself, while Tobirama tried to fit into one of his suits. It didn’t work much because of Tobirama’s bigger build but the effect had been quite direct and the whole scene had been amazing. Still, Madara remember how that old thing was terribly itchy. It had almost an ancient look to it, like the uniforms from centuries ago, as if officials had wanted to keep them intact and Tobirama hated how it made him stand out in a crowd, he hated the attention he received because of it. But he couldn’t stand before his men without it and Madara kind of liked it on his lover’s body. It made Tobirama’s beauty stand out. Show how strong his body was. And that body belonged to him.

“You beautiful man,” Madara whispered, placing his hands on his lover’s cheeks and pulling him down for a kiss. “One day, I’m going to tell the whole world you’re mine.”

“You know what I think of this,” Tobirama grunted but the corners of his lips quirked up still. “Not before we both retire.”

“I can wait until then,” Madara stated, he kissed Tobirama’s lips again and turned away. That was their unspoken limit. That was how much cheesy they allowed each other to be. To speak of how long they’d be together, to speak of when they’d retire and still be together. And it was enough. It was perfectly enough.

They stepped away from each other the same moment and Tobirama adjusted his collar, while Madara was clicking his tool belt around his waist again, he cleared his throat and pushed the button to unlock his quarter’s door and open it. The corridor was calm and they left their tiny cocoon, walking at a safe distance from each other as they were heading toward the main deck. They didn’t talk, they didn’t say a thing mostly because they didn't need to. Out there, they were Captain and First Engineer. Nothing more, even if everyone was well aware of their relationship. But they wanted to keep things proper. To keep what they truly were hidden behind the quarter’s doors. It was what Tobirama asked from his crew in unspoken words as well. He allowed them freedom, concerning their relationships, as long as the work was done and the ship worked perfectly. Newcomers always were a difficulty, of course but .. they spent too much time in outer space to think nothing like this would ever happen. And Tobirama preferred his men to be safe with them rather than paranoid their captain was going to denounce them just because they indulged into having sex with a consenting partner. These things happened on every ships after all. Tobirama only thought it was fairer for his people to leave them be in their spare time and not fear him. It was how he had been able to obtain their complete loyalty.

Madara admired his lover for that, too.

“Captain on deck !” Tobirama’s first officer announced as they finally reached it and the whole crew on deck rose from their seat. One hell of a woman the First Officer was and Madara always respected her, for she was fierce and she knew what she wanted. She had gone through the sexism of the officer’s school and came out of it without a scar. A lot of women abandoned during their first year but she didn’t. She was a good First Officer and Madara liked hanging out with her when they had the time to.

She left the Captain’s seat as Tobirama approached, she saluted him out of spite because she knew how Tobirama hated it and Madara snickered when he reached his own console, from where he could oversee the ship’s every systems with one glance. And call for his teams to intervene if needed. He was able to intervene on any system as well, to deactivate them if needed or increase their efficiency as well. It wasn’t an easy job, as the ship’s survival depended on him in delicate situations. Like when they were in the middle of a battlefield, or even when they landed as it was tricky with some planets or moons.

But if Madara could admit one good thing concerning his relationship with his captain, was the fact it helped them deeply when they needed to maneuver. They had that link, that form of silent communication. Madara knew Tobirama so well he could predict his orders and Tobirama usually didn’t need him to announce what he was doing. That had made their reputation in the Capital. Their commander often praised them as well. All that mattered, for them was to keep their crew alive and their ship flying in space.

“How far are we from our goal ?” Tobirama asked softly, addressing the navigating officer and she stated it would need them a couple of days more to reach it. Madara couldn’t wait to leave the hyperspace and maybe land on that moon. He loved the thrill of discovering new places.

“Communications ?” Tobirama continued with his usual checkings, after their “pause”. But there was no message for him, nor any communication.

“Ship’s current situation?”

Madara frowned, his eyes shifting from one data to the other quickly. Something was off, he could see it but he didn’t understand why. Why would the hyperdrive overheat when it was the newest addition on the ship ? The old drive had been replaced around seven months ago, and the new one never showed any malfunctions, nor such a heat signature. Sure, it wasn’t much, only a couple of degrees too high but it never did anything like this before. Why would it overheat ? Especially after so little time in hyperspace. Their old drive never overheated, even with how old it was, the uncommon but efficient water-cooling always kept them a proper, normal temperature. It didn’t make any sense and yet, when Madara taped his screen to access more detailed data about the hyperdrive and refreshed them, just in case, nothing changed. It was only a couple of degrees but ..

“First Engineer ?”

Hearing Tobirama call him by his rank made Madara shiver but it wasn’t the right moment to do so. Repressing his arousal, Madara turned around with his seat, to face Tobirama and he saw how Tobirama immediately noticed something was wrong. It showed with how his face and eyes hardened.

“It probably is only a defective probe but …,” Madara whispered, glancing toward his screen again and he cleared his throat. “I recommend we leave hyperspace so I can check the drive myself and test the probes.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, all around the deck, people slowly turning away from their post to look at Madara with unspoken fear and Tobirama straightened in his seat, he nodded.

“Do what you must,” he stated, ordered, then turned to his navigating team. “Exit hyperspace as soon as it’s safe. Shields up and I want everyone on alert just in case. Send a message to the commander to inform him of our situation. First Engineer, I want a quick sum-up of our situation.”

The alarm went off all around them, the first sign they were on alert and Madara gripped his seat's armrests in order to brace himself for the change of speed. He was used to exit hyperspace, after all his years of flight but it always was offsetting in a way. He always could feel his guts shift down his stomach and his weight move and his balance change. But he handled it more easily than other people. Some persons threw up, each time, even after dozens of these.

The navigating team announced the change of speed, the ship came to what felt like a stop after so much time traveling faster than light and Madara turned his head toward the deck’s bay window. Even after all these years, Space blew his mind. So gigantic, even after he travelled further than anyone else ever did before him, so beautiful and ridiculous, sometimes. They had stumbled across a planet made of crystal, once. Madara had kept a shard of hardened glass, as a souvenir, it was sitting near his and Tobirama’s bed, sitting on top of a shelf along with other little pieces of their life together.

There was a nebula nearby, a beautiful cloud of dust and rocks that sparkled under the light of the nearby star and Tobirama ordered for his men to scan the area, to calculate their coordinates, so they could send them to their commander in charge. He ordered for his people to ready their weapons, just in case, to make sure the shields were up, then he turned his eyes toward Madara and Madara stood, motioning one of his own subordinate to take his place, he reached into one of his pockets for his comm device and quickly left the deck, heading toward the engine rooms.

“Tobi, you hear me ?” He whispered into the microphone against his cheek as he was trotting along the corridors, dodging the many teams getting ready because of the alarm. He was speaking on their private channel, the official one was going to be way too noisy soon and he heard Tobirama hum gently in answer. “It’s probably nothing,” Madara stated, trying to help his lover to relax as much as he could. “I know that thing like the back of my hand, it’ll be ready to restart soon. Make sure your teams are ready.”

“Do you truly think it’s only a probe ?” Tobirama asked at his ear, his tone more worried than what Madara had planned and Madara sighed, as he was taking some ladders to access lower levels, as the engine rooms sat at the heart of the ship.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, even if he hoped the problem was only a probe. A simple probe was easy to change and would allow them to continue with their mission quickly. But if there was a proper problem with the hyperdrive ...

“I’m counting on you,” Tobirama stated and his tone was fonder than it should have been. “Have that thing ready to go as soon as possible. I don’t want to be blocked here.”

“I will,” Madara promised and he started running faster, following corridors after corridors.

It was only when he arrived that Madara fished for his tablet into his back pocket, he unfolded the screen quickly and attached it to the nearest wall, the magnetic hook keeping it in place.

The hyperdrive was .. huge. Smaller than the previous one, of course, it was modern technology after all and the previous one had been so old, most of its pieces had been replaced at least twice. But the new one was a beauty. It was, and Madara had spent weeks studying the way it worked, helped with the gigantic manual he had been given after it was installed on the Konoha. And it had been quite a challenge, to basically unlearn all he had been taught at school. But he wasn’t First Engineer for nothing and maybe he was unable to come up with such an engine, but he now knew exactly how it worked and how to repair any problem that could occur with it. He only hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. They didn’t carry many spare pieces on ship, while on such long missions.

The first step was to unlock the maintenance doors and Madara quickly entered his code name, along with the many passwords that only he and Tobirama knew. A fair security, considering how sensitive the place was, his whole hand was scanned and only then did the door unlock, he pushed it on the side.

“I’m in,” he told his captain, because he was aware Tobirama would want to know what he was doing and Madara grabbed his tablet, to take it with him inside the thick heavy dome that surrounded the hyperdrive, he connected it to the drive's system and he rubbed at his forehead, looking around him.

All seemed fine, as his first checking was visual. The quantum core, the main piece of the drive, who gave it enough energy to travel faster than light seemed to be in a perfect state, floating in its tank of hardened steelglass above him, in the middle of liters and liters of water. It was hot, of course it was after weeks of traveling in hyperspace but it looked .. perfectly normal. There was no leak, no instability. It was the main piece of the drive, the one Madara always kept an eye on and he made sure the water-cooling worked the proper way, that the water circulated in its pipes and only cooled water attained the core, before he headed toward the main control panel.

“The core is fine,” Madara announced for Tobirama and he almost saw Tobirama relax in his seat and release a breath. Other malfunctions would be fixable, one way or another but if the core failed and died ? They’d only have the traditional thrusters to push the ship into the infinite space and they would never take them back to the Capital. Not because they were old but .. six weeks travelling faster than light meant they had gone a long, long distance. They’d be dead before they’d reach the nearest allied planet or moon. It also would mean their only other option would be to wait for his commander to send a rescue mission, another ship to drag them back in hyperspace but they’d have to wait all these six weeks here, in the middle of the void. Sure, the Konoha’s weapon systems were quite performant and had allowed them to win many battles but .. Six weeks stationed alone at the same place ? Their ennemis wouldn’t hesitate to send dozens of ships to take them down.

“I’m accessing the diagnostic system right now,” Madara stated as he pushed several buttons on his tablet, after he tried wiping his hands on his thighs. The core’s temperature was making him sweat a lot. His suit was supposed to keep his body cooled down in such situations but it protected better against the outside’s cold. It was not meant to handle the core’s heat for a very long time and Madara activated the air-cooling, hoping it would help a little, before he did anything else.

“Reading the same data here,” Madara continued giving his captain assessments about the situation. “One of the processors is overheating and its temperature rose since I saw it on deck.”

“What does it mean ?” Tobirama asked, his tone hard and demanding. “It’s not a probe, is it ?”

“Don’t think so,” Madara sighed, shaking his head. It was very unlikely. It was too specific, to only be a probe. Especially with how the surrounding were as well showing some high temperature. Higher than they should read anyways. No, there was a problem with that processor and Madara prayed he wouldn’t have to change it. Not because he couldn’t do it but it would take a lot of time. He’d have to shut down the entire system first, wait for it to cool down completely, rid the circuit from the faulty processor and instal a new one. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, of course but it would take more time than Tobirama would allow him to take.

“I want that thing working again as soon as possible,” Tobirama stated, and Madara picked up the uneasiness in his tone. “Do whatever you have to do, you have my complete trust.”

“I know I do,” Madara breathed out, closing his eyes for a second and he heard Tobirama’s amused huff at his ear, he shivered, as it probably was one of his sweetest sounds. Along with his moans, a little earlier, when they were carefree and together. It wasn’t often Tobirama allowed himself to even smile when on duty. It always did something to his heart when he did, just because of him.

And so, Madara did. The first thing he had to go with was a complete system check and he typed the commands to start it. It was a program that would give him a list of all working hardware and all failing ones. If the overheating processor was at fault, it would show in the list and Madara kept his eyes locked on the list as it streamed on his screen, looking for red, somewhere in the middle of it. There would be a summary, when the program would be over with but knowing if a component was dead before the list was over with would allow him to intervene more quickly.

All was fine, though. Even the faulty processor was fine, except its overheating problem. There was no overvoltage, no strange behavior from it. Madara asked for a specific checking of the processor to be sure but it came back clean to him, the processor was completely fine.

Maybe it was a problem with the operating system and its processes ? Madara then thought. If the hardware was fine, it often meant the software was at fault and Madara opened the operating system’s interface on his screen, he started typing the first commands that came to his fingers but the basics were fine.

It was only when he opened the process list that something caught his attention.

“Tobi, I might have found something,” Madara whispered and he cleared his throat. “There’s a loop in the system. That’s what’s making the processor overheat.”

“A loop ?” Tobirama repeated in a rough tone. “What do you mean ? Is it a bug or something ?”

“I .. don’t think so,” Madara whispered as he tried to shut down the process. It was taking a lot of resources, and it was nothing he had read about in the drive’s manual. It wasn’t supposed to be there. It shouldn’t exist and yet, here it was and Madara typed the killing command as quickly as he could only to see it reappear almost immediately. “I think it’s a rogue program. Wait.”

“Rogue ?” Tobirama questioned and his tone was becoming borderline threatening now. “What are you saying ?”

“I think ..” Madara cleared his throat, killing the program again and again as it kept coming back. “Someone hacked into the drive’s system and implemented a virus. It’s the reason why that processor is going mad, the program takes all its resources and can’t do what it is supposed to do instead. All the other processors are getting too warm as well.”

“The drive’s system is completely independent from the Konoha,” Tobirama reminded him and this time, his voice was barely a whisper as he probably didn’t want anyone hearing him. “Or so I was told. How would someone hack into it !?”

“Maybe it was added to the system before the drive was installed on the Konoha,” Madara observed as it was the most logical hypothesis. He knew for a fact, and Tobirama was aware of it as well, that spies were among the Capital and it wouldn’t be surprising some of them had been able to pass as engineers or such, despite the many security and background checks one had to go through to work on something as sensible as their hyperdrive engines. “But …”

“But ?” Tobirama demanded an answer as Madara was typing other commands and the results confirmed his second idea.

“Got it,” Madara stated as he accessed a weird folder among the many, many system folders. “Someone downloaded that virus in the system two weeks ago.”

“How !?” was Tobirama’s almost shout and Madara shook his head.

“I have no idea,” He whispered, trying to delete the folder but it was only multiplying now. “But it’s everywhere in the system, I can’t delete it.”

“What do you mean ?” Tobirama questioned and this time, Madara heard the fear in his tone, rather than his anger.

“I’m going to have to reset the whole system,” Madara explained, already typing the commands and he rubbed his forehead against his shoulder as the heat seemed to be getting worse now. “I have a clean backup on my tablet. It will take around thirty minutes for it to download and the drive to restart. Warn your teams we have an enemy on board and lock everything down, even the deck. I don’t want anyone near the drive.”

Almost immediately, the alarm went off again, lights turning red because of the high risk alarm and Madara started with what he explained to his captain. It wasn’t a difficult task, truly, it was even easy but … If there truly was a spy on board, it meant they were going to have to check everyone and not just the newcomers. The spy could have been on the Konoha for months, for all they knew, they could have infiltrated the school, went with a normal life for all that time before they did that to the drive. It wouldn’t even be surprising, as their enemies knew no limits, as they were ready to do everything to take them down. Years, since the war started and nor them, nor the others showed any weakness. Madara didn’t know how long it would last still but .. He was pretty sure he’d be long dead before peace came again.

But there was something else, bugging him. Something more important than the fact they had a spy (or maybe several, even) on board. That virus had been implemented to the system recently enough. And it meant someone had been able to hack the hyperdrive’s security system. To force their way in despite the many passwords and the full hand scan. It was virtually impossible for someone to pass that security. How could have someone reproduced his whole hand to force their way into the hyperdrive’s dome ? How was it even possible ? Madara didn’t understand, despite his experience and his trust for the system but now probably wasn’t the right moment to think of it. He’d have to secure the place a better way when the drive would be operational again, though. And he had to think of a way before he left.

Resetting the drive meant for all its storage cells to be cleared up. Everything was deleted from them, formatted for them to be entirely clean and only then was Madara able to start uploading the back-up he kept on his tablet into the system again. The transfer was long, because of the huge amount of data it was and Madara couldn’t stop fidgeting as he was keeping an eye on the progress bar. It couldn’t fail, he kept telling himself, wiping more and more sweat from his face and breathing hard as he did so. It was the most important part, truly, it would allow them to launch the Konoha into hyperspace again and take them back home if needed. Restarting the system once this would be over with wouldn’t take longer than a dozen of seconds, really, the build probably was one of the most powerful one in the universe, as it required a lot to run a hyperdrive. Even the ship’s computer wasn’t that powerful, after all and it was also why it required a quantum core, rather than the usual generators to provide it with enough power.

“Mada ?” Tobirama called for him after a moment, as the data was transferred only halfway through. But Madara didn’t need for his lover to continue. He knew that tone, he knew what it meant. “The radar went off. We’ve got company, two destroyers, just out of hyperspace and heading our way. How much time before we can flee ?”

“Halfway through,” Madara answered, trying to keep his tone as posed as he could despite the fear down his guts. “Keep them occupied.”

“Got you,” Tobirama answered and Madara bit his lips when he heard his lover start giving out his orders. The combat alarm went off around him, even if the whole ship already was under lock down. Virtually, the deck crew was enough to fight back and keep the ship in one piece, even against two destroyers. The other teams were supposed to rush for repairs, the pilots to fly their shuttles and attack sensible parts of the enemy ships, the medical team to be ready to welcome the injured, but they wouldn’t, today. And Madara trusted his lover and his skills. Tobirama was the best captain of the fleet. He’d be able to maneuver the Konoha nicely enough to avoid getting it too damaged, to make sure not to overload the shields. They had done this before. Maybe not against two destroyers at once but … oh well, if someone could do it, it was Tobirama. Especially if he flew the ship himself. He was the best pilot that ever lived and Madara didn’t think so only because of his relationship with said man.

That was until the ship jerked on the side and Madara barely had the time to brace himself and not fall. This had been one powerful strike, Madara told himself. Probably coming from both destroyers aiming at the same spot to take their shields down. Most armies now used energy beams as main weapons and they were very effective. The Konoha used them as well, because it was easy for such beams to overload shields. Then, taking down a ship’s shell became a child’s play and Madara bit his lip, glancing at the percentage on his tablet. They were never going to have enough time before that was over with and another jerk made him fall to his knees this time.

It was bad.

Even from here, he could hear how Tobirama was pushing the thrusters, how he was trying hard to avoid these shootings. The way he saw it now, as the Konoha had moved another way, the destroyers were surrounding them and probably cutting off all their escape route. Or they were trying to. Tobirama wasn’t going to let them do as they pleased after all and Madara grabbed a nearby handle, to try and keep some balance.

“Mada !” Tobirama suddenly called via their comm device, and Madara bit his lip when he heard his hurried tone. “I need you to do something now ! The ship's core is failing and we're losing energy, the shields won’t hold. Get the drive online now !”

“It’s almost finished transferred !” Madara answered, staring at his screen as if cheer will would make it go faster. “I can’t do anything before it’s over.”

“We don't have the time !” Tobirama stated and Madara felt his guts tightened. He knew what Tobirama was going to say before he spoke the words. He had gone through enough battles with his lover to predict it. “If we don't counter attack now, we're all dead. Come back to your post !”

Out of instinct, and even knowing it would slow the transfer down for a second, Madara accessed the ship’s data, to overlook its current state via his tablet. The shields were failing indeed, the energy beams had done their job and overloaded them and the resulting electromagnetic wave had damaged their main powersource. Of course, the hyperdrive’s quantum core was protected, thankfully, it was too important after all but the Konoha was an old ship. The last of its class and back when it was built, energy beams didn’t exist yet, they hadn’t been built with that kind of protections, contrary to modern ships that were completely electromagnetic proofed.

Then again, this should have only been an exploration mission.

Slowly, Madara looked up at the quantum core, peacefully bathing in its water tank, he bit his lip.

“Wait, Tobi,” he whispered, as he was closing all his softwares except the transfer. “I have an idea ..”

“For fuck's sake, Madara !” Tobirama yelled into the comm device, making Madara wince at the harsh sound. “We don’t have time!”

“Give me three minutes ! Four tops !” Madara answered, looking around himself and trying to find something that would allow him to go with what he had in mind.

“I'm giving you two !” Tobirama instructed and Madara’s throat went tight but he could do it. Two minutes would be enough. He hoped they would. It wasn’t like he had the choice anyways.

His idea was risked, Madara knew it but if their main power was failing, then they had to use what they was available to them. Madara wasn’t sure such a stunt was ever made before, he wasn’t sure he should do it at all but to hell with precautions, he would! And he probably was the first engineer to ever think of doing anything like this but .. But this was for their survival, wasn’t it ? From the way the Konoha was vibrating, the sublight thrusters were at their max efficiency, Tobirama was pushing them the best he could to try and avoid the energy beams coming his way and the lack of power probably made it very, very difficult to maneuver for him.

Tobirama needed energy. Madara was going to provide him with some.

The longest part was to find, in the nearby storage compartment, something strong enough that would conduct the power but also be completely insulated. These cables, supposed to be used as replacement, to route the power from the quantum core to its systems should do it, or so Madara hoped. Nothing was for certain here after all, it was unsafe to plug that thing directly into the Konoha’s energy paths without a controller but what other choice did he have ? Tobirama needed that energy and it probably was their only way to survive here.

Plugging the new cables into the quantum core’s sockets in place of these that went to its systems was easy enough, bringing them to the nearest pipes that held the main routes of the usual power system as well. Madara then had to find a maintenance hatch, in order to access these pipes and the cables they hid.

“Tobirama, cut the power for ten seconds,” Madara instructed via his comm device. He knew it was going to shut down every systems, including the hyperdrive and thus interrupt the transfer, but that could be resumed when they’d be safe. For now, his main goal was to keep them alive, to keep the Konoha in one piece. And his answer was quick to come.

“Are you crazy !?” Tobirama yelled at him in disbelief. “We’ll be completely vulnerable and ..”

“Trust me, please !”

This, at least, seemed to do the trick and Madara had to wait only five more seconds until everything shut down, until the lights went off and the thrusters stopped, somewhere beneath him and Madara, blind but knowing his ship like the back of his hand, grabbed the thickest power line, the main alimentation one, he grabbed his pocket plasma cutter from his tool belt and cut it. Without waiting longer, Madara used the same device to weld the cables from the quantum core into the system, making sure there wouldn’t be any short circuit, he bit his lip as he felt his hands burn because of the cables’ heat from his plasma cutter, he should have been wearing protective gloves but he didn’t care. Burns weren't that bad, compared with the survival of the whole ship.

Then, he prayed, bracing himself against the pipe as the ship was being attacked once more. It was completely vulnerable now, with no shields not thrusters and he told, via their comm device that thankfully were equipped with their own power source, Tobirama to turn everything on again.

Lights went back first. Blinding, all around him, these weren’t meant to be powered that much and a couple of bulbs exploded under the intensity of the power.

“Readings are going crazy here!” Tobirama yelled into his ear and Madara tried not to smile. Tobirama probably couldn’t believe what was happening right now. “Mada, what did you do to my ship !?”

“Plugged the quantum core into the ship's power system,” Madara stated almost smuggly. He was proud of himself and a little relieved it worked to begin with. This could have gone very badly and it was a wonder the ship’s power lines were holding. They weren’t meant to lead that much energy after all.

“Isn't the quantum core on a separated, intern system inherent of the drive ?” Tobirama questioned in a serious tone, as if it was the best moment to speak of this.

“It was,” Madara stated and he chuckled, heading toward the maintenance ladders. The important matter for now was to get rid of these destroyers, he’d take care of the drive later. “Coming your way right now. Keep firing or the massive energy will burn the ship’s systems. I'll take care of the rest”

“You're insane !” Tobirama whispered but Madara didn’t miss the smile on his tone.

“I'm saving your beautiful ass Captain !”

His way back to the deck was a short one, Madara ran along the corridors as fast as he could, helped with Tobirama. The doors were opening for him each time he reached one and it meant the captain had assigned one of his crew members to follow his progression on the security cams and open the doors for him. The ship still was in total lock down after all and Madara knew it was better this way, even with how skill that spy seemed to be.

Tobirama’s look, when Madara finally arrived on deck, was nothing but fond and Madara tried to ignore the soft shiver that ran up his spine in order to reach his seat as quickly as possible.

The energy readings were going crazy, of course, it was no wonder as the sensors weren’t calibered to handle a quantum core and the first thing Madara did was to turn off every alarms. He didn’t need these right now. He then routed as much energy as he could toward the shields, to make sure they would be properly powered now, he made sure the thrusters would receive what they needed. It wouldn’t be that good of these overloaded now, not when they needed them the most.

“First Engineer,” Tobirama called in a softer tone and Madara looked at him over his shoulder. “Amazing job. Let’s take them down now.”

“Yes sir,” Madara answered and he smiled a wicked smile. “Routing all extra energy toward our weapons. Ready to fire.”

The first destroyer imploded with only one energy beam from the Konoha and Madara shivered hard as the deck crew cheered on that. They probably thought they wouldn’t make it this time and it wasn't surprising, considering their initial situation. But Madara wouldn’t have let anything like this happen and neither would have Tobirama. But the battle wasn’t won just yet and Madara gritted his teeth as his hands felt like they were on fire. It was hard to focus when the pain was so intense, the burns were worse than he first thought and these were going to take quite some amount of time to heal but they could do it, couldn't they ? His hands were nothing, when it was Tobirama’s whole crew that was at risk.

But Madara stayed concentrated on his job, he did worse in the past after all, he fought alongside Tobirama among a proper battlefield, alongside allies and ships that made the Konoha look like a kid’s toy. It was a small ship after all, smaller than any other ships in the fleet. Last of his class indeed, and it had been made for explorations missions to begin with. But it was their home and Madara would do anything to win that battle.

The second destroyer’s pilot was more skilled than the first. It was able to avoid several of Tobirama’s shots and Madara was keeping an eye on all energy levels. There were some damages on the shell, from the moment they went out of power and oxygen was slowly being drained from these places but Madara couldn’t send his teams just now. Not when the ship still was under lockdown and not before they were able to find who in hell hacked into the hyperdrive’s system.

Tobirama was able to hit the destroyer’s thrusters as it was maneuvering away, probably in order to activate their own hyperdrive and fly from them. The next shot was the one and Madara bit his lip as he gripped his console’s edge, trying to keep a hold on his excitement. It wasn’t easy, when the rest of the deck crew was screaming their happiness, it was a hard won battle after all and they barely made it alive but Madara, as an officer, was supposed to keep his cool in all situations. Tobirama as well and it showed, when Madara looked at him and he noticed the glee in his lover’s eyes.

Slowly, Tobirama turned to him, standing as he probably was going to congratulate his people, like he always did and with a tiny smile on the lips but before Tobirama could say anything, a shot echoed all around the deck and the captain froze. Slowly, blood started to ooze from his belly, soaking his old, itchy uniform and Madara’s own blood froze in his veins, his throat tightened, his body came to a halt. His eyes were wide with shock, as Tobirama placed a hand on his belly, where his blood was running freely, he wobbled on his legs, fell back into his chair and Madara looked around.

His eyes landed on Tobirama’s First Officer, as she was standing in the middle of the deck, a gun in hand and still aiming at the captain, as if she waited to shoot him another time. Madara couldn’t believe his eyes, he couldn’t believe what was happening. Why her ? Out of everyone on the ship ? Her service always was to perfect, she was kind and gentle and fierce when she needed to be, she always had been loyal to Tobirama. Why would she ..? Why would ..?

Madara acted before he could think about it. In one movement, he grabbed his plasma cutter, from his tool belt, he launched himself at the woman and activated his device against her head, killing her instantly. She didn’t have the time to react, she probably didn’t even see him coming and she would have never stood a chance against such a thing. Madara wasn’t sure he even moved himself but soon, he was by Tobirama’s side, tears pooling in his eyes, he grabbed his lover’s shoulders.

“Tobi,” he whispered, desperately. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. He wouldn’t let it happen. “Tobi, please, say something !”

But Tobirama’s eyes were closed, his body slack on his chair and in his arms and blood escaping his body at a terrible rate.

“Cancel the lockdown !” Madara cried out, addressing the shocked crew on deck, doing his best to support Tobirama’s weight as he did so, to keep him straight on his seat while pushing his hand against his wound. “Call the medics ! They need to .. to …”

His words got lost in his throat as his despair took over, he pulled Tobirama closer, crying hard. No, no, no, no, he kept whispering against his lover’s skin. Tobirama couldn’t die. He couldn’t abandon him ! Why would that woman shoot him ? Why would .. why !?

The medics arrived as quickly as they could and the hardest part truly was to pull Madara away from the captain, so they could carry him to the infirmary. Madara fought back hard, he didn’t want to let go, he didn’t want to stop holding Tobirama and before he could react, they injected him with a sedative, so he would leave them do their job and save their captain’s life.

That part became obvious when Madara woke up on one of the infirmary’s bed. He was groggy, he was feeling really uncomfortable, thirsty and his legs felt like cotton. Which probably wasn’t a good sign but he couldn’t care less at the moment. There was another matter in his mind. He wanted to see Tobirama. He wanted to know his lover was well. But for that, he had to move from his bed and Madara soon winced in pain when he tried to push on his hands to sit up. It made him remember of his burns and he soon realized both his hands were bandaged up to his elbows. And the world started spinning around him when he rose the head, a huge headache forced him to lie down again and groan in pain.

His throat was itching because of the lack of water, Madara frowned, closing his eyes again, trying to focus. But all was pain and were the burns that bad ? They hadn’t looked that bad, when he first saw them. Then again, things always went worse with plasma burns and he probably should have been more careful. He didn’t have the time to be careful on the moment, though. The Konoha would have been destroyed, if he hadn’t done what he did, even risking his hands as he did so. The crew would have been lost.They would have been all dead.

Madara would have never allowed it.

Then, he thought about Tobirama again and his heart sank in his chest. He didn’t care for his own injuries. Burns were easily treated, those weren’t the first he ever had in his life, they were pretty ordinary for an Engineer. But Tobirama had been shot in the guts. Madara hadn’t have the time to see what kind of gun the First Officer had been holding, all that mattered on the moment was to take her down and go to Tobirama but .. But he would survive, wouldn’t he ? Madara couldn’t imagine his life without Tobirama anymore, he couldn’t even imagine himself serving another captain. And if .. if Tobirama was .. gone, Madara would put a stop to his career. Why continue, without his lover ? What could he possibly do, were Tobirama .. dead ?

Thankful for the darkness to hide his tears, Madara cried at the thoughts. For a minute or for hours, he wasn’t sure, it was hard to tell when he was on his own and there was no clock in the room. After some time, he had recognized the place, it was one of the two Officer’s bedrooms from the infirmary. A luxury he probably didn’t deserve but it meant that if Tobirama was alive, he was in the room next door. And Madara had to know, he needed to know, he needed to stand and go see if Tobirama was there.

It took him a lot of time to sit up without feeling like his head was going to explode. He didn’t know what the medics gave him but it wasn’t enough and Madara winced as he pushed himself off the bed, as he wobbled on his feet. It was going to be a long way next door if his body was so weak but he was going to do it. He couldn’t just .. He couldn’t not know. Even if the news were bad ..

The light blinded him, when Madara opened his bedroom’s door, he shielded his eyes from it but it was barely enough and he had to lean against the door’s frame in order to let his eyes adjust to the bright light. Too bright, really and Madara bit his lip, thinking of the quantum core. He should contact his teams, send them to the hyperdrive to disconnect the core from the ship’s main power lines. He didn’t know how much time passed already but .. But the system was going to overload if they kept the quantum core plugged into it. It would make the weaker cables melt. And they would be blocked here, if it happened.

“Officer Uchiha !” Madara recognized one of the medics’ voice and she rushed to his side as he groaned at the title. He hated, when people called him Officer, and used his family name. Unless it was Tobirama. Behind closed doors. “You need to rest, you ..”

“Where’s the Captain ?” Madara questioned, cutting her off and glancing at her between shaky fingers.

“He’s ..” she hesitated and Madara placed a hand on his lips. He knew that tone, he knew what it meant. “He’s in the pod. We were able to extract the bullet but it was an expansive one and it did a lot of damage.”

“Will the pod be enough ?” Madara breathed out but already he was feeling empty. Tobirama couldn’t die. He couldn’t. Madara wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Yes,” the medic stated and it was enough for Madara to lose his balance in relief. He wobbled, she grabbed his shoulders so he wouldn’t fall flat on his butt. Tobirama was going to be fine. He would. “It will take time and the Captain will need a long recovery time, but he will not die.”

“Thank you,” Madara muttered several times, new tears running down his cheeks and she seemed to understand. Their relationship truly was no secret, on the Konoha and Madara knew they sometimes probably should be more discreet but at the moment .. At the moment, nothing was more important than the fact Tobirama would survive this, thanks to the healing pod. Madara was thankful Tobirama had insisted so much to their commander to have one installed on the Konoha. The War Council had refused, at first, saying the Konoha was too old, that it would be a waste of money but it was now saving Tobirama’s life. Madara could never thank anyone involved in its creation, installation and the decision to finally equip the Konoha with it ever enough.

“I can .. take you to him,” the medics then whispered and she helped him toward a wheelchair, she helped him sit down. “But next, you must rest. Your hands are in bad shape, the plasma was eating the flesh.”

“It hurts,” Madara admitted, as she was pushing him along the infirmary’s main corridor. It did hurt a lot but .. Madara was too focused on his lover’s wellbeing to care.

“I’ll give you a painkiller when the visit is over,” she promised and they didn’t speak again until they reached the pod's room.

The mere sight of Tobirama lying naked in that bluish liquid under a glass dome, an oxygen mask on the face, made Madara’s heart clench in pain. That was something he wished he would have never seen before and he blocked the wheelchair with one foot at first, not allowing the medic to push him further away. It hurt to see his lover like that, it hurt so much and he knew he was going to think of it for years to come. For Tobirama was strong, always steady on his feet and he was courageous and very, very sturdy but .. but he looked so pale right now and Madara could see the wound in his belly. Even knowing it was healing wasn’t enough to help him calm down and Madara needed a moment to gather his wits.

The medic seemed to understand the matter, though, she waited patiently until he nodded, silently saying he was ready and she pushed him the rest of the way, until he was sitting next Tobirama’s shoulder, his back to the wound.

“Five minutes,” she warned him, in a gentle tone. “You too need to rest.”

Madara thanked her, as she made her way out, he waited until he heard the door slide shut behind him and he breathed out slowly, closing his eyes. Tobirama was fine, he kept telling himself, focusing on the regular beeping of the pod’s heart monitor. He knew that pace, for he spent hours lying against Tobirama’s chest, his ear against his torso. He knew the pace and Tobirama was fine.

But Madara choked, still. His hand shot to his face, as if he wanted to hide his tears from his lover, he bit his lip hard to try and control himself but it was no use. There was nothing he could do to stop crying, out of relief and out of pain as well. Feelings were mixing, as he still didn’t know what to make of the First Officer’s gesture. Why would she shoot Tobirama ? Why ? Was she part of their enemies ? For all that time ? Some sort of a dormant agent ? Madara needed to access her tablet, to hack into it, search for communications. Something. Anything that would explain why she did what she did. And he wouldn’t stop before he knew.

Madara only looked up when he knew he wouldn’t cry anymore. He eyed Tobirama, he forced a smile and he lay a hand over the glass, as if to touch his lover, to run his fingers through his hair. Now, his throat was stuck with other feelings, with all the things he never dared to say. He had told himself that it was enough, that what they had was more than enough but it wasn’t. He should have told Tobirama earlier, he should have broken that barrier between them. And it was stupid he never said them before. Tobirama could have died today .. yesterday ? And he would have never heard them and Madara was feeling so bad about it, he held such regrets. But he hoped .. he hoped Tobirama would be out of the pod soon, that he would be able to hear them properly.

“I love you Tobi,” Madara whispered and half of him prayed for Tobirama to hear him, in a way. For Tobirama to hear him through his coma, through the hardened glass and liters and liters of liquid. The other half prayed that Tobirama didn’t.

Madara was too shaky to know.

The medic came back too soon, for Madara’s taste but she gave him the time to tell Tobirama goodbye before she pushed him out of the room, making sure he wouldn’t see Tobirama’s wound again. Helping him up the bed wasn’t an easy task and Madara did his best, despite how weak his legs felt still. Probably because of the sedative and how long had it been since he last ate? He couldn’t tell, he didn’t know the hour, nor the day and Madara breathed out, as he rested against his pillows, he watched as the medic prepared his injection.

“Who’s giving orders for now ?” He asked, before she could inject him with what he recognized as some of the most effective painkiller they had on board and the medic smiled.

“The navigating Officer,” she answered, truthfully. “They know the captain won’t be in shape for a moment but the crew voted and decided to give you leadership, since the first officer is .. well, dead.”

“Me ?” Madara frowned. That wasn’t .. reglementary. He wasn’t the highest ranking Officer at the moment, and it was even more surprising people voted for him, out of all people to lead them. It shouldn’t be him.

“We, hum ..” the medic hesitated, she looked away, her smile widened. “We thought you would .. know what the Captain would do in our situation. You .. you know him better than any of us.”

The discomfort lasted long after the medic was gone. To know the crew was aware of his relationship with Tobirama was one thing. To hear someone so easily speak of it, with no embarrassment, nor bad judgement was another. And Madara had so many things in the head now, about what they were supposed to do, where to go but the painkillers made him too dizzy to think properly after a couple of minutes. He must have received something stronger, to feel like this, but compared with how painful his hands were .. well, Madara was thankful he was given such a strong dose. He had forgotten about it, while with Tobirama but now, he could feel it completely and it was awful.

Madara was relieved when his lids started to fall on his eyes and he fell asleep again.

The next couple of days happened in a groggy blur. Madara didn’t register much about his own state, asking about Tobirama’s instead, each time he could. But his lover’s stare was stable, he was alive, the wound was closing at a decent rate, thanks to the healing pod. He would have almost no sequel, or so the medics stated more than once, because Madara couldn’t stop being worried. They didn’t mind his questions, though.

The day Madara was able to leave the infirmary, the medics decided he didn’t need to wear the bandages around his hands and forearms anymore. Madara hadn’t seen them during his time in the infirmary, the medics preferred to wait until he was asleep to change the bandages, they said the scars might make him uncomfortable. But Madara knew what a plasma scar looked like, he had seen many of these during his internships and when he was at school. Clumsy engineers usually received quite the amount of these along their career but it was the first time Madara ever got burnt so badly. He didn’t have the time to be careful that time anyways. He didn’t have the time to follow the protocol either.

His hands were .., well, they were scared. There was no other word and Madara watched them for a long time, after the medics took the bandages off. His left more than the right but the doctors had done the best they could to heal them. And the healing process wasn’t over yet, Madara knew it would take time before the scars would fade and he’d have creams to apply as often as he could as well. But he could use them, at least and it was all that mattered.

Still, he was thankful the medics offered him leather gloves to wear in order to protect them. For he didn’t want people to stare. And he dressed up slowly, pulling his overall suit over his shoulders, he was careful to close its seal, just in case. The gloves stood out a little, different from the ones that usually went with the suit but he’d make do. He couldn’t complain, not when his hands worked still.

The ship was silent, when Madara stepped out of the infirmary. He had told Tobirama goodbye, still hoping his lover would hear him through the pod, he had taken a couple of minutes to prepare himself. Sure, he was an officer and he had been taught to lead people but actually replace the Captain ? That was another matter. Madara wasn’t allowed to make mistakes, not when all these people depended on him. Tobirama was good at that because he was cold blooded. Madara always had been a little too temperamental to lead his own ship.

People stopped, in the corridors as he walked by. They saluted him, of course they did. They had designated him as their righteous Captain during Tobirama’s healing, it meant they had to act with him the way they did with Tobirama. None said a word though. Some bowed their head, other looked surprised. Madara hadn’t gone through the whole process to tie his hair. Most of them probably were seeing his mane untamed for the first time ever. Madara tried not to think about their curiosity.

The deck crew rose, as Madara stepped through the door, his arrival was announced by the navigating Officer and Madara hesitated. Should he sit at Tobirama’s place ? He didn’t like it but .. but it’s what Tobirama would have wanted him to do. And Madara felt nausea down his stomach, as he stepped toward the seat, strong images of a dying Tobirama flashing through his mind but he saw nothing. No blood, no stains. It was clean as new and yet, Madara took his time to finally sit down and look up.

They were waiting. For his orders, or for him to say something. Anything at all and Madara cleared his throat, he tried to relax.

“The Captain will live,” he stated, as he didn’t know if they received any info about Tobirama’s current state. “He’s recovering in the pod.”

Some smiles appeared on some faces but most of the crew was trying hard to look as official as they could. Or so Madara thought. He was their captain now, in a way and he wanted things to go smoothly.

“Have you done anything since the day of the battle ?” Madara then asked and he received reports one by one.

As the protocol required, in case of a ship malfunction and a captain unable to direct their ship, they had contacted their referring commander and a destroyer was travelling their way. It would take it one more day to arrive, they had been lucky enough for it to be close with their position when they called, they were receiving the ship’s coordinates every hour to be able to follow their route and it would protect them the time they’d need to make some repairs on the Konoha, to allow them a safe return to the Capital. The commander had accepted Madara’s temporary leadership and it would last until they were back to the Capital.

The quantum core had been unplugged from the main power system by one of Madara’s teams quickly after Tobirama was shot. They had managed to do so without damaging the core, but as no one but Madara was able to access the hyperdrive's systems, they hadn’t been able to repair it. For now, the Konoha was using its backup power system, meaning a lot of modules were offline. They didn’t have weapons, barely the energy to keep the shields up. The electromagnetic wave had damaged many things. The shuttles were completely useless also. The air filters were obviously working but they had been forced to ration water as the water cleaning plant didn’t work anymore. They had enough food and water to wait for the destroyer’s arrival though and the destroyer would provide them with what they might need upon its arrival.

What made Madara very uneasy though, was the fact the radar was offline as well. He didn’t like it, as they couldn’t know what message their attacker might have sent before they destroyed them, if they maybe called for backup and Madara tried not to overthink this. One more day only they had to spend on their own. It was unlikely they’d be attacked. Madara wouldn’t let anyone damage the Konoha more than it already was anyways.

But there were two things Madara had to do, that were important to him.

The first one was to take care of the hyperdrive, to reconnect its core, reboot the system with a clean software so they’d be able to leave as soon as possible when the destroyer would arrive to escort them back home. Madara didn’t want to lose precious time and if the hyperdrive was back online before their escort would arrive, if he was able to make it work despite the ship’s current state, then he’d engage the travel back to the Capital and warn the commander about it. The destroyer wouldn’t have any problem to change its course anyways. Madara would feel safe within their borders, nor a second before.

The second thing ? He was going to check the First Officer's personal effects. Her tablet, her personal computer, everything. The investigation wasn’t his to lead but to hell with it. He wanted to know why his lover had been hurt that badly, why they targeted him despite how Tobirama wasn’t even a regular captain in the conflict. Sure, the Konoha had its battles and Tobirama won several of them but .. but the Konoha wasn’t a war ship. Its main mission was exploration. They only ever took part in battles to carry some of the higher ranking officers’ plans, when numbers were important.

“I ..” Madara hesitated, giving orders to these persons was weird. He was used to lead his engineers and technicians and lead them toward what should be done on the ship, to what needed repairs. He hadn’t learnt to be a captain. But he knew Tobirama well enough to know what he’d do. “I’m going to work on the hyperdrive,” he announced with a soft nod. “I want it online before our escort arrives so we can take off right when they reach us. Keep the shields up and warn me of any change on the Konoha or any incoming communication. I want people all around the ship assigned to watch our surroundings and act as our radar. Send our shuttle pilots, they have the best sight. Also I want the former First Officer's personal tablet and computer here for me to examine and seek any link to our enemies.”

“Yes sir,” people around the deck answered in unison and Madara soon was gone, heading toward the hyperdrive as he was placing the comm device into his ear and turning it on, on the Konoha’s official frequency.

Working on the hyperdrive on his own soothed him, Madara realized after hours. It should have taken him an hour top, to bring it back to life and activate it so they could head toward the Capital but some problem showed up with it. Because of his savage connection to the Konoha’s main power lines, both outlets had been damaged. The quantum core needed precise calibration, when in use and he had plugged it directly into lines that weren’t supposed to handle such energy. The core itself wasn’t damaged, though, it was running well when Madara put it in test mode and all he had to do was change these outlets with the ones they had in stock. Which was one hell of a struggle because he had to weld each tiny cables together with his plasma gun and seeing how he had damaged his hands with that one already, Madara went extra careful and made sure to wear protective gloves on top of the ones he already was wearing, as well as a pair of goggles. The usual stuff but the urgency of the situation hadn’t given him the time to retrieve them when he last used that thing.

Resuming the transfer of data, from his tablet to the hyperdrive’s systems was short enough, as he didn’t have to do it all over again, but start where it stopped the last time and rebooting the systems went easier than he had imagined.

But Madara wasn’t going to take any risk. The first thing he did, before he asked for a jump to test it, was to run several diagnostics, to make sure every elements of the drive were acting the way they should, he verified the processes twice to ensure the virus was gone for good before he announced the hyperdrive was back online.

The next hours, as he probably should go to bed but decided that waiting for their escort to arrive was worth the shot, Madara occupied himself with the tablet and the computer he asked for, earlier. They would be able to activate the hyperdrive if anything happened anyways, which made their situation better, safer to Madara’s point of view.

Hacking into the devices took Madara all the way back to the Capital, after their escort arrived and they engaged into hyperspace together. And it was complicated enough to thankfully take his mind off of things. Things like, for example, why wasn’t Tobirama out of the pod yet ? That thing was supposed to enhance the body’s healing powers while keeping the patient completely stable, it was supposed to be able to heal any wound or illness and yet, each time he visited, at least twice a day, Tobirama still was immersed in that bluish liquid, a mask on the face with no sign of consciousness. The medics had assured him they’d warn him if Tobirama woke up but he didn’t. He wasn’t waking up and during the six weeks that lasted the way back to the Capital, Madara despaired. He knew Tobirama wasn’t going to die, as long as he was in the pod but what if he never woke up ? What if some part of his body had been too damaged for that thing to work on him ? Madara was feeling so bad, staying up way too long each day, usually falling asleep by Tobirama’s side. He couldn't sleep in their bed anyways, the whole quarters felt too empty, too cold for his likings now. At least, there, Tobirama was close and even if Madara couldn’t hold his hand, it was something already.

It was a loud, very loud beeping sound that woke him up, that day. It was close and it startled Madara awake, he groaned when he realized it was an incoming call on his comm device, he cleared his throat, his eyes fixated on Tobirama’s face.

“Yes ?” He whispered. He always spoke quietly when he was around Tobirama, just in case it might bother him in his sleep. The medics said it wouldn’t but one could never know.

“We’ve arrived to the Capital, Officer,” a voice Madara recognized as one of the navigating crew’s spoke into his ear softly. “As you know, the automatic landing system is off. Should I ask for assistance ?”

“Keep the Konoha still for now, I’m coming,” Madara answered and he sighed, as he cut the communication off, he stood from his chair, stretched.

“You always said you’d once have me fly that thing,” Madara addressed his lover with a fond smile, he leant forward, placed a kiss on the glass over Tobirama’s face. “I hope I won’t make it too shaky for you.”

With that, Madara left the infirmary, retrieving bobby pins from his back pocket and quickly pulling his hair into something a little more formal. He knew it would never be perfect enough for the officials he’d have to meet with later, he already had a couple of meetings planned and his commander would be waiting for him on landing site to retrieve all the info he gathered from the First Officer's personal devices but oh well. Madera had stopped caring. All he cared about now was Tobirama and he prayed all the gods he’d be well again soon. It wasn’t normal he was in the pod for so long but .. but Madara didn’t want to lose hope. Not after they came back all in one piece with a ship in that state. It was a feat, truly and Madara was pretty sure the world wouldn’t remember their name but oh well. He didn’t do that for the fame. All he did was follow Tobirama’s steps and bring the crew and the Konoha back home.

The different teams rose as he stepped into the main deck, Madara nodded at them. They didn’t salute him anymore, as least, which was good. It had taken Madara two weeks of almost begging them to stop to finally manage.

Tobirama’s seat felt familiar to him now. He didn’t have images flashing through his mind about it anymore, he didn’t look for blood stains anymore either. Madara always made himself comfortable enough, when he sat there but he couldn’t help but wonder why they never called for a pause more often with Tobirama when it was so boring to sit there while in hyperspace. Madara, as an engineer, could always find himself something to do, something to repair. Tobirama ? He was the most patient man in the known universe to be able to sit there straight and just .. act captain-ish all the time. Yet another reason why Madara would have never been able to do anything like this.

The sight over the Capital though was an amazing one. The planet so blue as it was covered in water, the buildings rising from the infinite ocean until they couldn’t see anymore, the two suns slowly setting being towers so gigantic it made the Konoha look tiny in comparison. A sight Madara always welcomed, a sight of home and he couldn’t wait to leave the Konoha and breath some of that pure air, rather than the recycled air of the ship. Most people didn’t even feel the difference between both of them; Madara, as much as he loved space, couldn’t wait to get out.

“Officer ?” One of the women from the communication team called for him and Madara could never remember her name. How did Tobirama even managed ? “Incoming call from the control tower.”

“On screen,” Madara asked with a soft nod and he waited for the caller to appear in front of him to straighten a little and nod his head with respect.

“Officer Uchiha of the Konoha,” the caller greeted him with a gentle smile. “Welcome back home. Of course, we have been informed of your exceptional situation and we’ll be sending you a pilot to ..”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Madara cleared his throat. “This will be useless. If you access my personal file, you’ll see I’ve gone through piloting lessons myself in private and I am officially allowed to fly ships of the Konoha’s category. Landing won’t be a problem for me.”

Some curious gazes turned to him, some exchanged whispers and Madara did his best to keep his cool. No one on board knew he had taken piloting lessons and he was pretty sure Tobirama didn’t either. It was a surprise he had wanted to do for his lover, as Tobirama always had wanted to give him a try behind the Konoha’s controls, to show him how to pilot it once they’d be far away enough from the Capital. They never got that chance though and Madara regretted he couldn’t exactly keep the surprise anymore but he didn’t want to bother a whole shuttle along with an unknown pilot to come land the Konoha when he could do it himself.

“Indeed,” the tower control officer smiled to him. “The Konoha is all yours then. Landing site four, eastern docks, I’ll have it lit up for you. Your commander will await you there as well as a medical team for your captain.”

“Thank you,” Madara breathed out.

The call was ended quickly, Madara looked around the deck, smug about the surprise on these people’s face. He could feel proud, couldn’t he ? But piloting .. he hadn’t thought he’d like it so much to begin with but he did. Keeping it a secret from Tobirama always had been difficult but oh well. Here was his time to have his fun and Madara focused on the commands in front of him, he cleared his throat.

“Let’s go,” he whispered to himself and he grabbed both the handles that served him to direct the Konoha. “Engaging landing procedures,” he then announced, looking up at the city in front of them. “Eastern docks, landing site four.”

This was their usual landing site. Already, Madara could see the landing lights turning on for them and the usual escort leading them toward the spot. And Madara did pilot some impressive ships in the past, during his lessons but they had been civil ships. They had been ships meant for cargo or public transportation but the Konoha ? It was a beast, even if old. It was slow to maneuver here but Madara knew the kind of stunts Tobirama was able to pull with her when they were in the middle of a fight. He knew it by heart and it always had been a wonder, for Madara, to see him so comfortable with these ancient systems.

But Madara wasn’t impressed with the ship itself. The fact it was slow only meant he could take his time. He had no radar after all and the radar was in charge of the collision alert so it meant he had to be extra careful. But the tower control already was aware of this, Madara had sent the information about the ship’s state to his commander the first time they spoke after their escort arrived and before they started their travel back to the Capital. So, Madara knew they probably had cleaned up the area for them, to avoid any unnecessary risks.

Madara turned off the main thrusters as soon as he could, to let the gravity pull them down and to control their landing with the landing thrusters instead. He activated the ship’s landing gears, almost startled when he heard them creak a little despite how he knew that sound perfectly. But hearing them from Tobirama’s point of view was something else, after all, everything was different from the Captain’s seat and Madara had realized so a long time ago. It hadn’t been easy to get used to it but Madara couldn’t wait to occupy his own spot again. Being captain for six weeks had been fun in some ways but it also was so boring.

The ship cracked a little when it finally touched their landing site, Madara bit his lip as the gears heaved under the ship’s weight, it wasn’t as easy as landing a more modern ship but Madara couldn’t help his big smile when he realized he had perfectly landed the Konoha on himself, with little helping systems as most of them were off and he finally released the breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

“Congratulations, Officer,” a voice he knew all too well echoed in the surrounding deafening silence. “A little heavy but one hell of a landing, for a beginner. I truly should land you the commands next time we fly together.”

Madara’s heart fluttered at the sound, he swallowed hard, his throat and mouth felt dried all the sudden and he turned wide eyes toward the deck’s main entry. Here was Tobirama. Up his feet, despite the fact he was a little pale, dressed in the infirmary's usual clothes, accompanied with one of the medics. Madara had thought it was so silent all around him because the deck’s crew had wanted to help him concentrate on what he was doing but all of them now were staring at Tobirama. Madara knew how much they cared and loved him. He was their captain, after all and the freedom he allowed them always made him quite popular among the crew.

But Madara could barely believe what he was seeing and he had to make sure Tobirama was here, that this wasn’t the invention of his mind. Without thinking, Madara left his seat, he stumbled toward the captain. His eyes were tickling with tears he didn’t want to shed, his palms sweating under his gloves, his heart beating furiously in his chest and Madara touched Tobirama’s arm, at first, unsure. But he saw the way Tobirama smiled gently, how he touched back and Madara couldn’t resist. With no hesitation, he wrapped both arms around his lover’s neck, he pulled him down for a feverish kiss and for a moment, he thought Tobirama was going to push him back because this was highly improper, considering the situation and the laws and they were in the Capital for fuck’s sake but .. but he didn’t. Tobirama chuckled, gently, he kissed back and one of his hands settled at the small of Madara’s back.

The rest of the world ceased to exist for them as they kissed and Madara had so much to say, yet it felt like that kiss was more than enough to convey everything he had in mind. Not because of how passionate it was but .. because they were kissing in front of Tobirama’s people, with no barrier. Of course, they already knew. They all knew. It wasn’t as if they ever were very discreet with the whole matter but still.

“You’re awake,” Madara whispered against his lover’s lips when they parted for air and one hand on the other’s chest to be damn sure this wasn’t just a dream.

“I couldn’t miss your landing, could I ?” Tobirama teased, he leant his weight against Madara, hiding his face at the crook of his lover’s neck as they always did. Madara closed his eyes, finding himself unable to keep them open when Tobirama did that, he slid his hand in the grey hair he knew so well, feeling it a little damp still, he heaved a soft sigh.

“Sorry it took so much time,” Tobirama whispered against his skin, after a minute or two. They probably should wait until they were somewhere more private to speak of all this but Madara couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment.

“Nonsense,” he muttered, kissing the top of his lover’s head. “All the time in the world, if you’re alive in the end.”

Of course, they were interrupted. Not by one of their crew members, they went by their usual habits after landing, shutting all systems off, announcing they had received the authorization for the crew to unship. But someone sounding very important cleared their throat, behind Tobirama’s back, the two of them parted in the same beat and found themselves standing holding hands in front of their very official commander, along with a couple of Officer from the police that probably came to retrieve the First Officer's body and personal effects for the incoming investigation.

Oh well. They probably had explanations to give as well now.

Three years later, Madara was peacefully waking up next to his lover for the first time. It was a beautiful day, the suns were shining beautifully through the bedroom’s windows and lighting up the room with yellows and oranges. These colors looked amazing on Tobirama’s back, they truly did and Madara couldn't look away from his lover for a moment but he had to. Today was a special day, after all, something he had organized with some help and he couldn’t mess it up.

Kissing Tobirama’s brow, Madara escaped the bedroom with a handful of clothes, he took a quick shower, dressed up and didn’t take the time to eat before he left their shared messy flat.

Messy yes, despite Tobirama’s usual cleanness and tidiness. But they only moved in together yesterday, all their stuff still was packed up and waited for them to unpack. They had priorities, the previous night. And day. Like finally be able to have sex without the feeling that what they were doing was forbidden.

Three years it had taken but the law finally passed. The one that allowed members of the same crew to have relationship, both sexual or romantic. The one they both harshly fought for, all that time, ever since their commander caught them along with some police officer. Their commander might had been able to keep it a secret, had he been alone or so he told them but with police officers as witnesses ? He couldn’t have done anything.

Both of them had to go through the military court and they pleaded guilty as charged. But that didn’t mean they let things happen. They said that yes, a Captain and a First Engineer had a relationship but they called each and every members of the crew as witness and they all said the same : that relationship never, ever bothered their work. That they kept it strictly professional when on deck. That if anything, it made things almost easier, when they went through tough times.

Eventually, the court judged them innocent and this started the mess that came afterwards.

Because they had been called innocent, other people declared they too had a relationship with another crew member, that it was unfair they were forbidden to be together when others were allowed to and it led to that new law.

Now, members of the same crew were allowed to be in a relationship of any type, as long as it was completely consensual and didn’t interfere with their work. It meant no groping or kissing in the corridors, or this kind of thing. It had to stay hidden behind closed doors. But it was more than enough for the majority of people.

As for the investigation concerning Tobirama’s former First Officer, it appeared the woman was indeed a dormant agent. One that went through all the background and security checks when she started Officer school. Madara’s hacking into her personal computer and tablet revealed she had been receiving orders from one of their enemies, along with the means to go through the hyperdrive’s securities, to add the virus to its systems and force the Konoha out of hyperspace in order to organize an attack and destroy it. Sure, the Konoha had been nothing but an exploration ship to begin with, and it had been a suicide mission but .. But it had been a test, to see if that method could work, if the virus was effective on the hyperdrive’s systems as the Konoha’s had been replaced recently.

Their enemies had no limits when it came to taking them down and the extended investigation allowed the military police to find other suspects and arrest them before they were able to act. It was also decided the hyperdrive’s operating systems would be updated with a mean to unable this kind of intrusions. And all the drives from the fleet had been inspected, updated and cleaned completely.

It had taken the two weeks since the law had passed for Madara to finally ask Tobirama if he wanted for them to move in together though. As their respective quarters in the Capital were small, they had been forced to find someplace else, helped by their commander as these quarters belonged to the army and they now were able to take care of their little nest.

But .. they had been too busy the previous day to unpack anything, except some bed sheets because Tobirama wouldn’t have allowed them to have sex on the mattress without them and stain it. Madara didn’t mind. Watching Tobirama bend over the bed in an almost seductive way had been more than enough to turn him on and take him right when he had been done struggling with the sheets.

Today was one special day, though and Madara made sure it would remain a surprise for his lover. It hadn’t been an easy task, considering the whole thing but oh well. Today, the wait was over and Madara was excited. He couldn’t wait for Tobirama to discover his surprise.

The way toward his destination was a quiet one. It was still very early and Madara dozed off in the bus shuttle at some point but at least, he didn’t miss his stop. Hoping off the shuttle, he slid his hands into his pockets, shivered as the soft wind ran through his hair, he closed his eyes for a moment and breathed.

Of course, because of all the things they were involved with, the investigation about the Konoha’s former First Officer, their judgement and the fight for that law to pass, none of them had been able to leave the Capital again. They hadn’t been able to fly and Madara couldn’t wait for the next time he left the planet and they had a new mission.

The place he was heading to was a secured one and Madara had to go through several security checks and a lot of body scans. Of course, they knew his face, he came every week but that was the protocol. This was some important place of the Capital, after all, no one could skip these controls, especially not with how the war was coming closer and closer to the Capital. One day, they would have to fight right over these immense towers and Madara dreaded that moment but .. but the situation was kind of stable, for the moment. Big heads placed their paws and waited for the enemy to advance. The kind of warfare Madara hated so much but oh well. It wasn’t his to stop the war, was it ? He was but a First Engineer. The most recognized one in the Capital and Madara received some messages from his previous school to ask him come meet with the next generation of engineers. He went anytime he could, he knew how important it was for them. Madara wasn’t sure he was an example, the state of his hands even three years later was quite a proof of that but .. but. But he couldn’t destroy some kid’s dream, could he ?

His hands worked perfectly fine, though. The scars were bad only. Not that he care. Not that Tobirama ever cared. It was all that counted.

The warehouse he arrived to, after at least an hour of checkings and displaying his id card and having his palm scanned, was huge itself but what it contained always blew his mind. Madara stared, for a long time, a soft smile on the lips like each time he came. It was all he could do for a moment, after all, as his body refused to move, as his legs felt like jelly. Then, he went with his usual little tour, greeting people here and there, getting acquainted with the whole thing.

It only was when Tobirama called, that his heart did that little thing in his chest and Madara sat in a corridor, he answered the call, a fond smile on the lips as he saw his lover’s tired face appear on his screen.

“Where are you ?” Tobirama mumbled sleepily, eyes half closed. He hadn’t moved a bit in the bed, he was holding his pillow in one arm, his voice muffled with it. “Thought we said we’d continue in the morning. I want you …”

“Ah well,” Madara smiled, he looked around the corridor to make sure no one was around. “I forgot about that important thing I had to do this morning.”

“More important than doing me ?” Tobirama asked in a huff, acting all grumpy but the effect didn’t work as he yawned a second later.

“Maybe,” Madara chuckled, he bit his lip. “Join me ? I have a surprise for you. I’m sending you the coordinates.”

“It’s better be worth it,” Tobirama breathed out and he hung up quickly. Madara didn’t wait to send him said coordinates and he waited. The people at the door knew what to do, if Tobirama showed up, they’d call him.

There wasn’t much Madara could do, while waiting, except walk along corridors he was already trying to remember by heart and be amazed with each little detail he noticed. It was a wonder he had been able to keep all this a secret from Tobirama, seeing how official it was supposed to be but his “notoriety” did bring some advantages. Not much but enough, to his likings. He couldn’t wait for people to forget him again though. He didn’t exactly like people pointing at him in public transportation and asking if he was “that guy”.

He received a message from the first security check after half an hour and Madara shook his head as Tobirama really had taken all his time to show up. But he made his way to meet with him, somewhere away from that surprise, he smiled when he saw how Tobirama was frowning, looking around himself. Tobirama knew that place, after all, that was no surprise for him but he probably didn’t understand why Madara brought him here.

“Isn’t that the .. ?” Tobirama’s question was left hanging, as Madara grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the warehouse in silence. But Tobirama easily went with him, entwining their fingers. Sure, they were in semi-public, as there were some people around here but oh well. It wasn’t as if they were making out or anything of the sort.

“Close your eyes,” Madara asked his lover when they reached the warehouse’s door and Tobirama spared him a tired look before he did, he sighed.

“Is this why you’ve been so secretive lately ?” Tobirama questioned as he was letting himself be pulled with no resistance and Madara chuckled.

“Maybe,” he admitted and he glanced around to make sure they were alone before he stole a kiss from his lover. “Alright, you can look,” he then whispered and he watched Tobirama’s expression closely.

Saying Tobirama was surprised was an understatement. He wasn’t surprised. He was completely mind blown and he stepped back, lips parting and eyes as wide as saucers. He had every reasons to be, though. All the reasons in the world when, right in front of him, was standing the newest ship of the fleet.

It was huge. Of course it was. Compared with the Konoha, it was gigantic and yet, it wasn’t the biggest one ever constructed in the Capital’s dockyards. Cargo ships were twice that size, even bigger but what probably set Tobirama’s mind off for a moment was the letters painted on the ship’s side.

“Konoha II”.

Soon after their arrival back at the Capital, three years ago, the Konoha had been taken to the recycling units. Repairing it could have been possible, but it would have taken a lot of money and it was useless for a ship that old. Too ancient to welcome the newest technologies, a lot of things were obsolete and others didn’t fulfill all the new obligations since it had been built, like the crew’s comfort reglementations. The fight against these two destroyers had damaged it a lot as well and it had been decided it was going to be taken down to pieces and recycled.

Tobirama had mourned his ship for a long time. The Konoha had been his first ship and Madara never exactly asked why it mattered so much to him, why it was so important but he hadn’t needed to, seeing how careful Tobirama always had been with it. He never liked taking parts of battles because of this reasons, he kept saying he signed into the military to explore Space, find new planets and this kind of things but sometimes, even Tobirama couldn’t say no to orders.

But Tobirama had moved on, too busy with the trial and the rest to think about his old ship. Their future as Officers had been uncertain for a long time for any of them to dare asking about their future ship, if they would be assigned to another, if they would be assigned together to begin with. This made things a little clearer, at least.

“Is it .. Is ..” Tobirama hiccupped as he trampled on closer, his eyes still wide open as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and he only stopped when he was able to touch the ship’s shell, he caressed it with soft, gentle fingers. “Is it mine ?”

“When everything’s ready, yes,” Madara nodded, turning to his lover. “I .. I called the commander some weeks ago, asking him about our future and he told me he already had it all planned. This is the newest exploration class ship and it’s yours, Captain.”

“I ..” Tobirama trailed again, at loss of words and he placed a hand on his lips.

“I can take you in for a tour, if you’d like,” Madara grabbed his lover’s free hand, not waiting for an answer and he took him to the crew’s access flight of stairs that led to the main gangway. Which was way bigger than the Konoha’s, people would have enough space to move along it without bumping into each other. Really, all in all, everything was bigger and Madara was proud to be able to give the tour to Tobirama himself. He knew how Tobirama might feel, to be given such a ship and the first place Madara took him to, was the main deck.

It was so much wider than the Konoha’s, so much more comfortable as well. Each station was well defined, with modern instruments, disposed in a way so Tobirama would be able to know what the ship’s state would be in one glance, but the panoramic window to the outside was what Madara liked the most. Surely, they would see beautiful things, through that opening and he couldn’t wait to fly again.

“I tried your seat,” Madara admitted with a soft smile. “It’s super comfortable.”

Tobirama hesitated, before he headed toward said seat, he poked it with his index finger at first, before he allowed himself to sit down and his appreciative hum sent shivers up Madara’s spine. He always loved it, when Tobirama was comfortable. And he always made sure he was. It was the reason why he insisted to try the seat and validate it before it was added to the ship.

Madara then showed his lover everything else. The cafeteria, the engine room, the hyperdrive, the infirmary. The Konoha II was equipped with two healing pod as it was mandatory for this ship’s class now, as well as a quantum core as a main power source. Of course, the hyperdrive was alimented with its own core and the whole ship had been proofed against electromagnetic waves. The shields were the newest things as well, they included a security to avoid power surges and they were more resistant than the previous ones, their weapons were the same energy beams but more powerful since they now were alimented by a quantum core.

Tobirama asked to see the hold in particular and again, his mind was blown when he saw the many shuttles docks. The shuttles hadn’t been added to the ship just yet, as it wasn’t exactly operational for now but there would be so many more more than on their previous ship. Tobirama even smiled when he saw there was a bay for rovers meant for initial explorations of the places they’d land on, as the one from the Konoha never worked and had been taken to recycling long ago.

All in all, Tobirama was looking both happy and very, very touched he would be given such a ship to lead. He was a young Captain, after all and even if he was a very good commanding Officer, this kind of ships usually was given to older people, to those who had experience. To make sure they wouldn’t get too damaged, as it costed a lot of money and took a lot of time to build but their commander had fought a lot for that ship to be assigned to Tobirama and he had often said that Tobirama deserved it, even with how he sometimes didn’t follow orders.

“One last thing,” Madara whispered, taking his lover’s hand into his and leading him toward the higher levels, were quarters usually were. Tobirama followed, in awe with the whole place, looking so amazingly happy and it only was when Madara opened once precise door that he focused again and he frowned, when he stepped into a living room.

“What’s that ?” he questioned, going to poke at the near couch and Madara laughed.

“The Captain’s quarters, of course,” he smiled gently and he tilted his head to the side. “And it has a double bed.”

“No way,” Tobirama breathed and before Madara could answer, his lover opened the nearest door to find said bedroom and he almost stumbled face first on the bed as he did so. As it happened, it wasn’t supposed to be equipped with a double bed, or so Madara guessed when he first saw the bedroom. But seeing as the ship was going to be Tobirama’s, the commander asked for a special little demand for the two of them and the builders had been able to fit a double bed into the bedroom. It took basically all the space in the room, hence why Tobirama fell face first onto the mattress but he started laughing, as he turned on his back and he grabbed Madara’s hand to pull him closer, to entice him to climb on said bed.

Before Madara could react, he was pulled into a deep, searing kiss that made his insides warm up and his mind lighten up. He loved it when Tobirama kissed him that way and it often meant Tobirama was up for some fun. And really, Madara couldn’t deny he had already fantasized about taking his lover into that precise bedroom. That’d be quite hot and trying the bed before the ship was even ready to fly ? Madara couldn’t exactly say no.

It wasn’t Tobirama’s intention, it seemed, as the kiss became soft and tender after a moment. There were some grabby hands and Madara soon found himself with Tobirama snuggled against him, his head tucked under his chin and a hand under his clothes, touching his side with gentle attention. He didn’t mind either way anyways, they had their fun the previous day and night and he smiled when Tobirama sighed of happiness.

“I … Did you ask, for the name ?” Tobirama eventually questioned, he hummed when Madara kissed the top of his head.

“I did,” he admitted. “I know it was important for you, somehow.”

Tobirama didn’t speak, for a long time but Madara could feel him fidget a little. Which meant Tobirama had something to say but didn’t know where to start with and he sighed, after a moment.

“The Konoha .. It was Hashirama’s dream,” Tobirama whispered, he cleared his throat in embarrassment. “It was his ship, before the sickness ..”

Of course, Madara knew about Hashirama. Tobirama’s older brother had been one year older than himself and went up the ranks with brio, he soon became Captain himself but Madara never knew what happened to him afterward. He hadn’t known Hashirama had been sick but it explained why Tobirama cared for the ship so much, if it had been his brother’s. And why he fought so hard for the Konoha to be equipped with a healing pod. A pod probably would have saved Hashirama’s life, even if Madara didn’t know what sickness affected him.

As he couldn’t think of an answer, Madara pulled his lover closer, he wrapped his arms around his body and he waited. There wasn’t much he could say to Tobirama to make him feel better, he knew how important Hashirama had been to him and Madara had been friends with the man as well before Hashirama got promoted. It was a pity such a man had disappeared, as Madara knew he would have been one great Captain and it pained him to know, now, that Tobirama had mourned not only for his ship but also because that ship had been a memory of his brother for him.

“Also,” Tobirama smiled shyly as he looked up and Madara frowned as this kind of expression wasn’t something he often saw on his lover’s face. But it was better than sadness, wasn’t it ? “Did you know people can sometimes hear their surroundings when they’d into a pod ?”

Madara’s frown intensified, he shifted backward so he could see Tobirama’s expression and he closed his eyes when Tobirama kissed the tip of his nose.

“I probably should have told you this earlier but we were kind of busy ..” Tobirama continued gently, and it was that moment Madara knew which words were coming next. He knew and he felt his whole body tighten in anticipation, and his heart started beating faster and his mind went completely blank when the words rolled off Tobirama’s tongue as if they always belonged there.

“I love you too, Madara.”