Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Apollo slipped through the snow on the most dangerous planet known to man, Polus. Next to him was someone wearing a pink suit, one of his closest friends. HCJustin. The crew had split up in search for a missing member of the corporation, all they knew was that they were looking for a red suit. Ryan probably had more information, but he usually forgot to tell them things even if they were important. 

The NLSS was the search and rescue crew of the Among Us Corporation, and they were good at what they did. Being a search and rescue crew meant they got special equipment, and their infrared helmets were one of them. 

“I fucking hate cold planets,” Justin grumbled over their comm link. 

“Get over it. We have to find this crewmate,” Ryan’s response came. Rarely was the commanding officer serious, but on a search mission it was usually of the utmost importance. “Keep vigilant, Sinvicta?” Ryan asked after. 

“Medbay is ready,” Sin responded, and considering that he was the main medic on the NLSS it made sense he was still in their ship. 

“We’re on standby,” Malf added with a little bit of bitterness in his voice. 

“You could’ve changed your suit, don’t get annoyed because you refused,” Kory said and Apollo could hear the huff from the other man. Malf usually wore red, but when looking for a crewmate in red it wasn’t helpful. 

Apollo let the infrared scanner attempt to detect someone other than the man next to him. In the distance to his left he could see two more members of the crew walking together and scanning. 

“Baer, Chib, anything?” Apollo asked. 

“Nothing yet,” Baer responded. 

“Nope,” Chib said at the same time. Apollo let out a silent sigh, he absolutely hated missions on Polus. Because the planet didn’t provide oxygen, he had to wear his helmet. Usually he didn’t, due to his keen senses, so the helmet always felt like it hindered his ability to be useful. He was a hybrid for crying out loud, so this sucked. Not to mention his inability to even fucking see the color red. 

Movement caught his eye and he walked in the direction he spotted it, Justin turning to follow him. “Apollo’s seen something,” Justin said in his ear and he heard a few responses but didn’t say anything in response. 

His infrared scanner picked up a heat source from behind a few rocks, and he ran towards them. A heat source on Polus meant that it was a human, not one of the stupid imposters that could be roaming around. 

A person was sitting on their knees, suit torn and they were shaking. While the planet didn’t produce oxygen it was still pressurized on the outside so it didn’t kill them. The person thankfully still had their helmet on, or else they probably would be dead. 

“We’ve located the missing crewmate. Retrieving them now, injuries are minimal but the suit is torn,” Apollo said and then stepped forward towards the person. Apollo stepped in front of them and they looked up, visor untinted and showing their face. Apollo didn’t recognize the crew symbol on their chest, but it looked like a tree basically. 

The man hung his head, chest heaving. Apollo reached down and picked him up, faintly hearing the heartbeat from the man. 

“Return to the ship. His safety is the main goal here,” Ryan ordered and Apollo glanced at Justin as they walked over the purple ground and white snow. Ryan was normally all for safety when it came to injured crewmates, but he was acting weird about this one. Justin looked just as confused and gave Apollo a nod of agreement, he was thinking the same thing. 

Bringing the man back to the ship was easy enough, especially when they were joined by Chiblee and Baer within a minute or so. Chib wore a yellow suit, Baer wore a brown one. Baer was the only other hybrid on the NLSS, as his name suggested he was a bear. About halfway to the ship they were joined by Ryan in blue and Kory in cyan. 

Ryan moved to walk directly next to Apollo, in a way he never did when it was just some random crewmate. Whoever he was currently holding had to be really important. Even Kory looked confused at Ryan’s consistent hovering. 

It didn’t take long before they had reached their ship, and Apollo had brought the man to the medbay. Sinvicta didn’t waste time as he stepped forward and grabbed the guy from Apollo before Malf ushered everyone else out of the medbay. Were they all medically trained? Sure, of course they were. But when you had everyone trying to do things at once it got a little crowded so usually whoever was on medbay duty got to claim medic. Other than Sin, he was just always medic. 

“Ryan, what’s going on? Who is that guy?” Kory asked, stepping in front of their commander. Apollo stood behind Ryan with Justin next to him and Chib and Baer also blocking him from going anywhere. 

“Fine,” Ryan grumbled as he realized that he wasn’t able to go anywhere. “That’s Commanding Officer Steven Suptic,” 

“Commanding off…” Apollo trailed off. He knew who the other commanding officer was, but he had never heard of Steven Suptic. The only other one he could think of was Junkyard. “How is that possible?” 

“No more questions please. I’d rather not have to deal with Toast and however pissed off he gets,” Ryan muttered and walked away. 

“So…Ryan’s broken,” Chiblee said and Apollo only managed a nod. 

The great part about being on the NLSS was everyone was basically considered a Jack, in which their skills varied in each class and job they did. Sure, everyone had their preferred places but they could all cover for each other if something went wrong. 

The bad part was that being on a crew of Jacks meant that there could be extra duties. One of those for the NLSS was medbay duty when someone was hurt. And that happened to fall on Apollo that night. 

And eventually a groan alerted him to the awakening commanding officer. 

Chapter Text

“Hey, take it easy,” Apollo said and walked over to the berth that the commanding officer was laying on. When he met the panicked eyes of the man, he saw the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen in the world. 

Now call it unconventional, but it wasn’t his fault the man was pretty. The man being Steven Suptic. He still had no actual clue who that was or what he did but hey, that was on him for being on a crew under Ryan’s command. 

“Get away from-“ Steven growled, shoving at Apollo briefly but Apollo managed to overpower him and keep him from sitting up. “Northernlion,” Steven murmured as he saw the symbol branded the right side of Apollo's chest.

“Yeah, I’m Apollo Willems. I work on the NLSS and I’m the current medic on duty,” 

“What happened?” Steven asked and Apollo could see worry shining through his eyes. Were all commanding officers this readable or was it just because Steven was currently in the medbay? It was hard to know. 

“We found you on Polus, wandering around and hurt. Ryan’s been worried about you Steven, how you feeling?” 

“Hurt, I guess,” Steven muttered. “And it’s Steve. I hate being called Steven,” he grumbled and just let out a huff. “Go get me Northernlion,” it was an order, and Apollo crossed his arms while pinning his ears. 

“No,” he said

“Excuse me?” Steve looked thrown off. “That’s an order and I-“ 

“Am a commanding officer. I know,” Apollo said in a slightly stern, slightly sarcastic voice. “And I’m the medic while you're in a medbay. I’ll get Ryan in a bit, but first I need to check you over now that you're actually awake,” 

“I…” Steve went quiet while staring at him, a now unreadable expression on his face. “Fine,” he said and didn’t give Apollo issues after that while he checked him over. 

“You have a concussion, but you’ll be fine. Two broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and had a dislocated shoulder that should be healing fine,” Apollo explained as he finished up. Steve hadn’t spoken throughout the entire check up, instead having stared at Apollo the entire time. “I’ll go get Ryan now-“ 

“Wait,” Steve closed his eyes and let a sigh out. “Just…just wait. Wait till morning, I don’t wanna wake him up,” it confused Apollo and his tail flicked a little, head tilting. Steve had been so annoyed at having his order denied that this just seemed weird. 

“But you said-“ 

“I know. Just…wait for a bit?” 

“Besides, Ryan’s also on duty so he’s just in his office and awake so don’t worry about waking him up. Actually waiting till morning would cause the next medic to wake him up and-“ 

“Fine. Go grab him,” Steve seemed almost…defeated when he said that. Apollo nodded and tapped his comm to speak to Ryan. 

“Ryan,” he said to the commander he had worked under for so long. From Team Unity to the NLSS. “Steve is awake and has requested you,” he glanced at the commanding officer in the medbay. 

“Perfect,” he replied. “I’ll head that way then,” Ryan said and Apollo hummed. He didn’t bother giving Ryan a response, because that would probably devolve into an argument or Apollo having to use brain cells in order to understand half the words out of Ryan’s mouth. 

“How long will this take?” Steve asked, well more or less huffed. He seemed bored, not that Apollo blamed him because he also got restless in the medbay and didn’t like to stay put for very long. Which in turn drove Sin insane so Steve was lucky to have him and not their head medic. 

Soon enough the medbay doors slid open and Ryan strode inside with all the confidence of a bitch. Apollo loved Ryan to death, there was a reason he respected him so much, but he loved to insult him too. Even if it wasn’t out loud. Ryan was basically like his dad, at least with the damn energy he gave off. 

“Steve!” Ryan’s voice boomed in such a happy tone, Steve flinched and Apollo gave Ryan a look. The last thing they needed was to scare Steve, even if the two did know each other. 

“Hey Ryan,” Steve muttered and Ryan gave Apollo a dismissive wave. Apollo sighed and walked out of the medbay, he hated that Ryan was a medic too. Because that meant he was getting dismissed for the day and he was off duty. Normally he would welcome the dismissal but he didn’t really want to leave. 

He headed to his room to crash out and go take a short nap. Of course Chiblee had other ideas and showed up in there, curling up against Apollo and turning in an old movie. Apollo kept CDs in his room, and apparently Chib took that as an open invitation. 

“So…” Chib grinned up at him and Apollo raised an eyebrow. “You’ve gotten off early,” 

“The guy woke up,” Apollo responded as he closed his eyes. He’d entertain Chib for a bit, hopefully the younger man would let him fall asleep. 

“Uh huh. And he’s exactly your type right?” Chib came across as teasing and Apollo let out a huff. He reached up and covered Chibs mouth, keeping his eyes closed. 

“Shut the fuck up or get the hell out,” he grumbled as he dropped his hand from Chibs mouth. “I’m trying to sleep,” he muttered and Chib wiggled until he was comfortable. 

Apollo couldn’t really fall into a comfortable sleep, he was kinda aware of Chib changing the movie at some point and curling back up. He was aware of Justin coming into the room and joining them, because apparently Justin also took everything as an open invitation. 

But the reason he couldn’t sleep wasn’t because of Chib and Justin quietly arguing, it wasn’t because Baer at some point also showed up. Because apparently his room was where the four just hung out. It was simply because he couldn’t help thinking of Steve. 

Chapter Text

When Apollo finally did get some sleep, and eventually woke up, he had Justin with him still. Mostly because Justin didn’t tend to get up and walk away until whoever he was holding was awake. Though a glance at his friend and he realized Justin was asleep anyway. 

He changed into a clean suit, one he hadn’t been wearing the day before and while sleeping. His tail flicked and he glanced at the time. It was early enough that there may be a few people up but the majority of them might be asleep. He had slept through the past day or so to get back on his normal schedule, meaning Steve would’ve been in the medbay for about twenty four hours after Apollo left him alone. 

As he walked to the cafeteria, he was overtaken by the silence. It was always odd how quiet it could be when most people were asleep. Even when it was just Team Unity as a quad up there, it always seemed something was happening. Of course maybe that was Dan's fault, because Dan Gheesling no longer worked for the corporation. 

He made it to the cafeteria, not expecting much. Boy was he thrown off when he saw Steve sitting at a cafeteria table alone. The man didn’t have a tablet, a book, food or anything, he was just sitting there and staring into space. 

“Uuuuh, excuse me?” Apollo asked a little shyly as he sat down. Steve seemed to snap back to reality and blinked at him, smiling after a split second. 

“Hello there,” Steve practically purred and Apollo could listen to him talk all day. 

“How in the world did you convince Sin to let you out of the medbay?” Apollo asked, nearly laughing but covering his mouth before he did. “Because Sin hates letting anyone injured out of the medbay,” 

“I guess I was just too restless?” Steve gave a shrug and Apollo bit back a laugh again. Leaning next to him there was a set of crutches and Apollo stood up to grab food. 

“Do you want some food? I mean, it can’t be easy trying to carry food while on crutches,” Apollo made an offer and Steve nodded in agreement. Apollo grabbed containers of food, prepared by Justin who knows when, and carried them back to the table. 

“Thanks,” Steve said as he took the food container handed to him. 

“No problem. So…you’re a commanding officer,” 

“Mhm,” 

“I know Ryan does search and rescue, and Junk does…whatever Junk does,” Apollo hesitated with what he thought Junk did, not quite sure what the older man’s role was. “But your crew, I’ve never heard of them or you for that matter,” 

“And you wanna know what I do?” Steve sounded almost hesitant when he asked but Apollo nodded in confirmation. “Alright. Well, we don’t really do normal crew things,” Steve started to explain and Apollo gave him an unamused look. 

“And we do?” He asked and cracked a smile. “If you can’t tell me, that’s fine. But don’t try and bullshit me, nobody who works for a commanding officer does regular things,” 

“I guess you’re right. We do a lot of work I can’t quite talk about because most of it is classified. But we get to see a lot of places. And god, my crew…” Steve trailed off and Apollo watched him with rapt attention. 

“What are they like?” Apollo was curious. He had worked with the majority of the NLSS for years and he loved them to death. He truly did. He had known most of them, if not all of them, from before the corporation in one way or another, they were all practically his family. “Your crew, I mean,” 

But sometimes you just needed a break. 

“Probably the most chaotic thing in the world, but they’re good. They work well together, and with me,” Stevewent through a list of all the members, then he looked thoughtful for a moment.  “Though, I’m always looking for new people,” Steve said and locked his beautiful brown eyes with Apollos. The hybrid blinked.

“Huh?” 

“Never mind,” Steve muttered. “But what’s it like here? Like obviously I know Ryan, but everyone else?”

“It’s fine I guess,” Apollo responded, looking down at his food. 

“You guess?” Steve asked, Apollo shrugged a little bit, still not meeting the eyes of the commanding officer. 

“I guess I feel trapped. Don’t get me wrong, I love this crew and loved Team Unity, but it’s not like we exactly do much. We barely get missions and since Team Unity isn’t a thing anymore we don’t get any other missions,” 

“Oh,” Steve looked like he was thinking about something. Not that Apollo really cared enough to question it. “I have some work to do, thanks for the food,” Steve then stood up and headed for the admin office where Ryan normally worked. If Ryan was awake and working in the office, Apollo had no clue. 

“Oooh,” the familiar voice of Baer came from behind him. Apollo knew that tone, he was about to be teased beyond belief. “Somebody looks like he has a crush,” his voice was sing-song tone and the other hybrid sat down. 

“I barely know him, how would I have a crush?” Apollo asked and looked at Baer. The hybrid's small ears flicked and he gave Apollo a toothy grin. “What?”

“He’s exactly your type,” Baer pointed out and nudged him. “Come on Apollo, I know you better than almost anyone here,” 

“That might be a lie, but whatever,” Apollo said and then leaned into Baers side. “So maybe I think he’s cute. But he’s a commanding officer, and it’s not like I’m ever going to see him again after he leaves,” 

“What’s going on?” Justin asked as he walked over with Chiblee. Apollo sat up and groaned, dropping his head in his hands. Great, the last thing he needed was Justin and Chib to be part of this conversation. It was like having your siblings tease you without mercy. 

“Oh fuck this,” Apollo stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, not that it did much because the other three followed him. 

“Ooooh, Apollo must have a crush,” Chib teased and Apollo let out a sigh. This would be a long fucking day. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was sitting in his room a few hours after he had breakfast with Steve and managed to ditch Baer, Justin, and Chib. A knock on his door caused his ears to perk forward and his head to tilt. Nobody on this damn ship knocked, other than maybe Kory and Sinvicta. And that varied day to day.

“Come in,” He called and the door swung open. He didn’t actually look up from his tablet, continuing his work. He figured it was Sinvicta coming to remind him to eat, or Kory doing second in command stuff for Ryan. What he didn’t expect was the person who actually came in, that being said it was Steve. “Oh, hey,” Apollo said as he saw the red suit, leading him to know it was Steve because Malf sure as hell didn’t knock. 

“I wanted to talk some more,” Steve explained and sat down on the edge of Apollo's bed. “About…some options,” 

“Options?” Apollo set down his tablet and tilted his head. He was curious about what the hell Steve was talking about, why did he need options? For what?

“Yeah. You said that you miss Team Unity, right? You want to go back to doing more things,” Apollo nodded in response. “Have you ever thought about becoming a second in command?” 

“What do you mean?” Apollo asked in confusion. “Ryan already has a second, Kory. There would be no reason for me to-”

“On another ship,” Steve cut him off, causing Apollo to pin his ears back and look almost offended for a moment. “Like, transferring?” 

“Leaving the NLSS?” Apollo had never heard of such a ridiculous idea, this was his family. Leave Ryan? Leave this crew? “You think I should leave?” He was a little sad, did he not belong here? What was Steve playing at? 

Steve dropped his head in his hands, groaning. Apollo was confused, why was Steve so annoyed? The scent rolled off him in waves, it sent a tingling sensation down Apollo’s spine. He didn’t like Steve being annoyed at him, but he did like the tingling sensation. 

“I just think it might be good for you. Listen,” Steve said and finally looked at him again. The pretty brown eyes held an emotion Apollo didn’t recognize but he really was curious. “There’s many reasons why I think you should transfer to another ship. But you said it yourself, you want to do more,”

“Where would I go?” 

“Well, if you like action there’s always the defense ship,” Steve said. “Chilled would love you. Or maybe the research ship with Talia and Sips,” 

“I already know Chilled. He has been asking for a while if I wanted to move to the airship. But I don’t think research is really my thing, not the kind on the submarine at the very least,” Apollo was thinking about it now, maybe he should take Chilled up on his offer. 

“I just see something in you, you could do amazing things as a second,” Steve said, but his tone left much to be wondered about. Much to be discovered. “Listen, I’m about to leave. Here,” Steve handed him a card, one with contact information. Apollo stared at it then at Steve for a moment. “If you ever need a recommendation, then let me know. I’d be happy to give you one,” Steve then left his room, leaving Apollo to wonder about everything. 

Steve left the NLSS ship that evening, and Apollo was left alone with his thoughts. 

The next few weeks consisted of near constant calls with Steve whenever possible, it was like he just couldn’t get enough of Steve's voice, or even seeing his face over the tablet. It always made his entire day when they could talk. 

Sometimes the talks were serious, sometimes they were silly. But every night he was left wondering about the choices he had, every night he was left wondering about possibly leaving this crew. 

“I don’t know if I should be a second,” Apollo said, he was exhausted out of his mind after a search and rescue for the crew on the Skeld. Hafu was damn lucky she still has her old distress signal. “But I wouldn’t mind transferring ships. Something a bit more active, ya know?” he yawned a little bit. 

“I can imagine. But you look tired after this one mission,” Steve wore a smile though. 

“Yeah but, I just want away from this. Want to feel useful, more so than when we do a mission here and there,” Apollo let out a sigh. “But…you remember when you said you were always looking for new people?”

“Yeah. I don’t want you here though, Apollo,” Steve’s voice came across as almost harsh, and Apollo’s ears pinned back and tail tucked. He didn’t like that tone, it sent a sharp spike through his body and he wanted to cry. “I love talking to you, don’t get me wrong, but you would not be able to handle it up here,”

“Right…”

“But, I think you’d get along on the airship. I think you would work well under Chilled”

“I mean yeah, I practically have grown up with Chilled and all them. Plus Junk is always vying for me to join him and his kids,” Apollo was close with the Junkyardians, and most of the Chaos Crew. “But,” Apollo cut himself off. 

“But?” Steve prompted, perfect brown eyes looking curiously at him. 

“Never mind,” Apollo murmured. He let his mind be clouded for a minute, he needed off this damn ship. He needed to be away from this ship, if even just for a bit. 

“So, I do want to warn you. I’ll be gone for a while, a mission has come up and I won’t be able to talk for a few months. So if you do want to be a second and want me to pull any strings then it needs to be tonight,”

“Don’t worry about it, but thanks for the offer,” Apollo was being so genuine it hurt. “I have an in on a different ship, but I’ll do it,”

“You will?”

“Yes, I’ll apply to be a second,” 

Chapter Text

Apollo had long since sent in his application and transfer in, and had moved to the Airship to be a second in command under Chilled Chaos on one of the two defense ships of the corporation. He had been there for nearly a year, and in that time been in and out of communication with Steve. He still liked talking to him, and missed him when they couldn't talk.  

The nice thing about being a second on the Airship was that he wasn’t needed all the time. Due to the dangerous nature of the defense ship, Chilled had many seconds. ZeRoyalViking, APlatypuss, Speedy, Larry Fishburger, and Jeremy Dooley. Plus Tay, at least he thought she was a second but he never truly knew with her. 

He was currently stretched out on his bed, and smiled sleepily when his boyfriend came into the room. Skadj grinned at him, it was a tired smile but he probably had a long flight back from the Skeld. 

“Hey Skadj,” Apollo murmured as Skadj flopped onto the bed. Skadj hadn’t even bothered to change from his orange suit, instead pulling Apollo close to his chest. Skadj leaned in to most likely press a kiss to his lips, but Apollo ducked his head instead and let Skadj kiss his forehead instead. He adored Skadj, but he just wasn’t ready. 

“Hey dog,” Skadj mumbled and closed his eyes. Apollo let himself curl closer, he had been on duty all day and was excited for Skadj to get home after a long six months on the Skeld. He was just gonna go to sleep. 

Well that was the plan until the door opened and in stepped the commander of the Airship himself. Apollo looked up and frowned, Skadj had already fallen asleep and Chilled didn’t normally come in without knocking. 

In the darkness of the room, Apollo saw the commander move forward and watched with alert ears. Upon managing to make out Chilled’s expression, the normally silly and not so serious commander was incredibly serious. 

“Apollo, come with me. I need you in the medbay,” Chilled said, loud enough to be heard with ease but quiet enough that Skadj didn’t wake to the noise. Apollo frowned at him, but did wiggle out of Skadj’s grasp and follow Chilled to the medbay. 

It was pretty close to the rooms, but to Apollo's tired mind it felt like they walked forever. Chilled was silent, walking with straight posture and a purpose. 

“Who’s here and why are you acting like they’re the most important person in the world?” Apollo half demanded and half asked. 

“We have a commanding officer on the ship,” Chilled said. “And he’s asking for you,” 

“Ok? And your dad is a commanding officer and so is Ryan. You never act like this with them-“ Apollo cut himself off. “Oh no,” he knew who had to be here, the one commanding officer that Chilled probably didn’t know all that well. 

“Apollo, hang on,” Chilled stopped him outside the medbay and the hybrid pinned his ears back in confusion. Why was he being stopped? “He’s a little confused, shaky, and I need you to deliver a rough blow,” 

“Excuse me?” 

“His crew was found dead,” Apollo felt his blood run cold, he remembered when Steve went on and on about each member of his crew and their abilities. This was going to break him. Steve adored his crew, despite teasing them and making fun of them constantly. “The NLSS found him, and transferred him here,” 

The NLSS never moved people to other ships, not without a reason. 

“Wait, I don’t wanna-“ Apollo tried to argue but was shoved into the medbay and the door closed behind him. Nobody else was in there, just him and Steve. And he was going to have to break the worst news possible. 

“Apollo?” Steve asked softly, the top of his red suit was off and his ribs were wrapped in bandages. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept in a few days but more than likely he was just weak. “Apollo,” he murmured again, blinking those perfect brown eyes at the hybrid. 

“Hey bud,” he said and ran fingers through the curly hair, smiling slightly when the man leaned into it. Then his smile faded as he remembered what he was really in here to do. “I have some bad news,” 

Steve’s face fell. 

“They’re gone, aren’t they?” Apollo nodded as he sat down next to him. “I wondered when I didn’t see them here. When I didn’t see Cib, or Autumn, even fucking Parker,” he sounded so frustrated and a few tears rolled down his cheeks. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, tail tucking. “I wish there was more that could’ve been done,”

“Yeah, just unfortunate. Ya know?” they settled into silence after that sentence from Steve. Eventually the commanding officer spoke again. “Can you offer me a distraction of any kind? Tell me how it’s been up here,”

“It’s been…just it’s been I guess. Not bad, not amazing but it’s been,”

“Mmm,” Steve closed his eyes and Apollo figured he’d keep talking. 

“I got myself a boyfriend,” He said after a while of talking about everything else. Steve had been giving him small responses as if asking him to keep talking. So he did, he would talk as much as Steve needed him to. 

Silence

“Oh,” That’s the only response he got, and it’s not like Steve seemed thrilled about the topic so he changed it pretty quickly. Finding other things to talk about, but Steve stopped giving him any responses so he eventually just went quiet. 

Apollo sat there, letting Steve lay there in silence and he started to stand up. Steve seemed to be asleep, so he was just gonna go back to bed and take a nap because he was tired and he had work in the morning. He silently reached the medbay doors and they slid open, so he started to leave when a quiet voice made him pause. 

“Apollo?” Steve asked and he turned around. The commanding officer was sitting there, staring at him with an unreadable expression that soon softened and he looked scared. “Stay?” 

So he did. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was happy, that was a good way to describe it. He had his boyfriend with him for the next few months, up until he would leave to go to the Skeld at least. He had distractions with all his responsibilities, and he got to see Steve nearly every day. 

Apollo was currently sitting in Steve’s room, it was the middle of the night and he had left his sleeping boyfriend when Steve had come into his room in the middle of a breakdown. Steve was gripping onto him and sobbing. 

This was…not new to Apollo, or even that foreign. Steve had lost his entire crew, and seemed to gravitate towards him. Meaning that when Steve was having nightmares or problems, he was the one pulled away from his work, or bed, or whatever he had been doing previously. 

Which was fine, he personally didn’t have a problem with it. 

Morning rolled around and Apollo left the room with a now calm and professional looking Steve. They split up from each other, and Apollo made his way to the cockpit to see if Chilled needed any help. He was off duty today, but he always had issues sitting still and relaxing. There had to be something keeping his mind busy or entertained. 

Before he could enter the pit, his wrist was gently grabbed and he was spun around to face Skadj. The man's viking horns had slipped to the side a little so Apollo reached up and straightened them, which earned him a soft smile. 

“If I recall dog, you’re supposed to be off duty today,” Skadj said, tilting his head a little bit. Which just caused the horns to slip anyway, which caused a sigh and a head shake from Apollo. 

“What about it?” he tilted his head, giving Skadj a curious look. 

“Why you tryin’ to work? I’m here for only a short time,” Skadj was right, it was one thing to overwork himself when Skadj was gone but right now his boyfriend was here. So…what was he doing? 

“Sorry?” It was a halfhearted apology but it seemed to make Skadj happy. He was brought back to his room where he curled up against Skadj and started to read a book while Skadj turned on a movie from his collection. 

They spent a few more hours there, just by themselves. Skadj at one point ran fingers through his hair and ears which caused Apollo to shy away, mostly because he hated people messing with his ears, but that was all the important things that happened. 

His comm went off and he frowned, listening to what was being said. 

“Apollo, report to the kitchen,” It was Shubbles voice and she sounded almost panicked so of course he got up and headed to the kitchen. He didn’t quite know what to expect, he honestly didn’t care that much. 

That was until he stepped into the kitchen. 

Steve was in the middle of some kind of panic attack, and it made Apollo pause. Sure, he had panic attacks all the time. Or at least he used to. But why was he called in? Did they think he knew what to do here? 

“Shelby?” he asked carefully, looking at the medic. 

“He seems to know and like you the best, I figured you might be the best one to help him,” she explained and he nodded. He tried to wrack his brain for anything that might be helpful in calming Steve down, not that it came up with a lot. 

Steve was white knuckled as he gripped a counter, and Apollo slowly walked over to him. 

“Hey bud,” he made sure his voice was soft, but it honestly didn’t seem like Steve was listening at all. This wasn’t a panic attack at all. This was some sort of PTSD thing, where Steve had to be remembering or overthinking or something. 

Working on a search and rescue crew also meant a lot of things like this, and while Apollo usually had to call for help from someone more…emotionally adept. But here, he was the help that was called because for some reason Steve liked him or something like that. 

“Steve? Hey,” he hesitantly reached out a hand, hovering it above Steve’s shoulder. He pulled it back before touching the man. “Shelby, can we turn off the lights? And keep everyone out of the cafeteria,” She nodded and started to walk off. “And can I get a blanket?” 

“Yeah,” She said and walked off. The lights dimmed and Shelby quickly came in with a blanket before walking away. Apollo draped it around Steve's shoulders, tugging him away from the counter and making him sit down on a chair. 

“Hey bud,” Apollo knelt between Steve's legs, peering up at the man and talking in the most soothing voice he could. “You’re having a flashback, it’s all ok honey,” 

It took a while longer before he was even sure Steve was listening to him, but when Steve’s breathing matched his, he couldn’t help but smile a little bit. 

“There we go, look at you. Breathing,” Apollo gave him a small smile, uncaring about the footsteps that were behind him. Uncaring who came into the room, he just needed Steve to be ok. 

“Thanks,” Steve eventually managed to get his voice back and Apollo just smiled so softly. 

“Good, I’m glad you’re ok,” 

“Yeah. I’m sorry,”

“Don’t apologize,” Apollo whispered and Steve nodded. “Do you want me to stay with you-?”

“No,” Steve said quickly, tightening his grip on the blanket that was still draped around his shoulders. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Now you should go find your boyfriend,” 

“Huh?” Apollo asked, confused. Why would Steve specifically say he needed to go find Skadj? 

“Uh, Skadj came in and he didn’t look too happy when he left,” Apollo nodded and stood up. 

“Just come find me if you need me,” he said and gave Steve a quick hug. Then he decided to go talk to his boyfriend. 

Chapter Text

Apollo walked into his bedroom, because when Skadj was on the Airship they just shared the room. Skadj was sitting on the edge of the bed, viking horns sitting next to him. Apollo watched him for a moment before Skadj seemed to realize he was even there. 

When his normally sweet boyfriend looked up, all he could see was anger and annoyance in the vikings eyes. 

“Skadj?” he asked, looking concerned. What had caused Skadj to be so mad? Had he done something? Skadj scowled at him, standing up while putting on his helmet and heading towards the door. Apollo stepped in his way, blocking the man's only exit. 

“Move,” Skadj ordered, causing Apollo to pin his ears back and straighten up. He wasn’t moving until Skadj actually bothered to talk to him. And if there was one thing he knew the viking hated, it was talking to people about his issues. It was the same issue that Skadj had when they were younger, he didn’t like to talk about things and eventually exploded. 

“No,” 

“I’m not having this conversation with you right now Apollo,” Skadj growled as he got in Apollo's face. And Apollo hated when people got in his face. 

“What conversation?” Apollo put himself right back in Skadjs face, because he knew how to play these games. And he knew how to win. “Because you don’t even know what conversation I’m in here for, because you don’t wanna talk about anything,” 

“Believe me Apollo, this is not a conversation that you want to have!” Skadj snapped, pushing past him only for Apollo to grab his wrist and stop him. 

“Why? Because you don’t wanna have it?” he snapped right back. “This has been an ongoing issue since we were little,” 

“What has?” 

“Your communication. Talking. All you’re going to do by avoiding this conversation is cause a fight later on, and it’s not going to end well,” Apollo told him. “Besides, we aren’t children anymore so why don’t we sit down and have a conversation like some god damn adults,” 

Skadj had frozen, he was staring with wide eyes and Apollo didn’t blame him. He was never one to really stand up for himself like he just did, much less with Skadj. He was usually the person Skadj would rant to when having really bad days, not snap at him when he was being unreasonable. 

“Fine, we can talk,” Skadj finally whispered. Apollo nodded, really thankful that Skadj was listening for once. He gently moved his hand from Skadjs wrist so that he was holding his hand instead. Then he nudged Skadj enough that the viking sat back down on the bed. 

“Thank you,” Apollo said as he sat down as well. “So what in the world is this all about?” 

“What is going on between you and Steve?” Skadj asked after a minute of silence. 

“Huh?” Apollo thought for a minute that Skadj was kidding, until he saw how dead serious his boyfriend was. “There’s nothing going on between me and Steve?” 

“Really?” There was so much doubt in Skadj’s eyes that it felt like a slap in the face. “Because you keep ditching me for him. I wake up alone, you just get up and leave, I walked into the kitchen and you were sitting between his legs,” 

“Skadj…” Apollo breathed out. “You know what happened to Steve’s crew-”

“Yeah, everyone knows. Ok? But he knows Shelby, he knows my dad, he could go to any of them or switch ships,” Skadj looked away from Apollo, sounding more jealous than Apollo had ever heard him. “Why does he need you?” 

“Because right now he’s scared and alone. And right now he needs the person he feels the safest with,” 

“And why is that you?” 

“I found him on a mission a while back, he woke up to me in the medbay, I was the one to have to break the news of his crew, he knows I can keep him safe,” Apollo made Skadj look at him. “Next time you have a problem, please just talk to me,” Skadj nodded and Apollo pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“Ok, I will,” Skadj murmured. “I promise,” And when Skadj leaned in to kiss him, Apollo felt too guilty to move away. 

Apollo watched with a small smile when Skadj got up and left the room, so he curled up and watched a movie by himself for a while. 

His day off duty was nearly over, and he found he enjoyed the majority of it quite a lot. Especially because he hadn’t tried to do any actual work. 

Maybe he should actually use his days off as days off more often. 

His good mood was ruined when the door opened and Skadj walked in with a black eye. Apollo's eyes widened and he got up to see what had happened. The door shut behind Skadj and he caught a glimpse of Kara, whose witch hat was settled comfortably on her head as always. 

“What happened?” He asked as he stopped Skadj and cupped his face. It wasn’t like Skadj didn’t ever get into fights, but coming in with a black eyes and with his twin sister escorting him…

That was weird. 

“Nothing,” Skadj pulled his face out of Apollo's hands. “I’m fine,” 

“That doesn’t look fine,” Apollo argued. “And who the hell did you try to fight? And did they win?” Skadj shot him a glare and Apollo put his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just asking, not often you come in with a black eye,” 

“Leave it alone Apollo!” Skadj snapped and Apollo pinned his ears back again. 

“Right, because I can’t worry about my boyfriend,” Apollo knew his voice was dripping with sarcasm, mostly because of how Skadj looked at him. 

“No need to get sarcastic,” Skadj muttered and Apollo tilted his head. 

“Ok, I’m not sorry. But who did you get into a fight with?” 

“It’s not important,” Skadj grumbled before he stripped off his suit and headed to the bathroom to most likely shower. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was working the next morning in the cockpit, mostly just some boring old paperwork and keeping the navigation system on track. The other seconds were either asleep or working in their own stations and Chilled was probably asleep with Platy, since the two had night duty. 

The doors slid open and footsteps approached, Apollo flicked an ear back while he kept his eyes on his paperwork. It sounded like Steve, due to how light the footsteps were but could also be Sidearms or Skadj since the guys walked so quietly due to their spy training. 

Due to the scent that filled his nose though, it was definitely Steve. 

“Hey Steve,” he didn’t even turn away from his work, he figured the commanding officer would tell him what he needed. 

“Hey,” Steve said and Apollo heard him walk over. “What you working on?” 

“Paperwork?” It was more of a question than anything else, because honestly it was something Chilled had asked him to do that was probably not in his job description. Apollo then looked up as the guy standing behind him and was taken aback. 

Steve had a split lip. 

“What the fuck happened?” Apollo asked, only to be brushed off and arouse his suspicions. 

“Don’t worry about it, but you should see the other guy,” 

“I think I have,” Apollo grumbled, because if he was right about what he thought then Steve and Skadj got into a fight. But it wasn’t his place to question a commanding officer. 

“But,” Steve hummed softly. “You haven’t seemed very happy up here,” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Apollo asked, genuine confusion filling his body. His head tilted as he looked into Steve’s brown eyes. They were still beautiful but he felt almost bad thinking of them that way because he was dating Skadj. 

“I hope it’s not because of me, but you just don’t always seem super happy to be working,” 

“Do you wanna be doing paperwork?” 

“I mean no, but come on Apollo. You seemed more excited about paperwork or missions with the NLSS,” Apollo let out a sigh, because Steve may have been right. 

“Ok, fine. I miss seeing new places,” Apollo admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I love not doing search and rescue and I love working under Chilled. But my goodness, I miss seeing Polus and things like that,” 

“I get it. It’s been weird for me to not see things and talk to people,” Steve explained. “What about looking into other ships? Like the submarine?” 

“They stay under water,” Apollo reminded him, earning a small giggle from the commanding officer. “I like to see the galaxy, the stars,” he said and looked out the glass of the cockpit. “Maybe I was better off with the NLSS,” 

“No!” Steve said so fast that it nearly made Apollo's head spin. 

“Oh,” was the only response he could think of to say. They stared at each other for a moment before a guilty look came across Steve's face. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to come off so…” Steve hesitated before continuing. “Harsh? But I just mean that there has to be a better ship for you. There’s plenty of commanders and ships in this corporation,” 

“I guess,” Apollo murmured and looked down. “But I also know everyone out here, so…”

“It’s easier,” Steve finished for him and Apollo nodded. 

They settled into a comfortable silence as Apollo continued to do whatever paperwork that Chilled had given him. He was still pretty sure that it wasn’t his job to fill out this particular form or whatever but what was he supposed to do?

Soon enough heavy footsteps entered the cockpit and Apollo placed them as Junks due to how certain and calm they seemed. Turning around in the chair only proved him right. 

“Steve, it’s time,” Junk said and Apollo tilted his head. Time for what? “Apollo, you’ll want to see this too,” 

Apollo nodded and got up to follow. He had no clue what Junk was on about and leaving his station was not technically great, he was curious about what was going on. Plus, he couldn’t really get in trouble when a commanding officer told him to follow. 

They were led to the place where dropships docked and waited for a moment. Junk moved to lean against a wall and they waited. Eventually the airlock cycled and the doors slid open. 

The footsteps were familiar, and the figure that stepped out of the steam took a moment to place. But when it all cleared and the yellow suit became visible, it caused a smile to cross his face. 

“Well well well, guess you aren’t under Ryan’s command anymore,” The woman said while taking off her helmet. “Never thought I’d see that,” 

“Nice to see you too Hafu,” he said with a smile. Apollo stepped forward and hugged her briefly, stepping back after a second. “What brings you off the Skeld?” He asked, knowing the commander tended to be happy staying on her ship in space. 

“Actually,” her eyes scanned over to Junk. “He does,” 

“Hafu, welcome to the airship,” Junk said as he moved off the wall. He stepped forward and shook her hand, smiling at her. “And there’s someone I want you to meet. Hafu, this is commanding officer Steven Suptic. Steve, this is commander Hafu,” Junk said and Apollo watched the two shake hands. 

“It’s nice to meet you Hafu,” Steve said, sounding very official in a way Apollo never heard before. 

“You too sir, I’ve heard a lot about you,” 

“You have?” Steve seemed to cast a look at Junk, but the older man only shook his head. 

“Dakotaz,” She said and looked at Junk. “Is there a place I can talk to Steven alone?” Apollo saw Junk nod, and he also knew the look in Hafu’s eyes. She had an idea, and soon he was alone in the hallway. 

He silently headed back to the cockpit, resuming his place in the seat and checking to make sure they were still on course, all while wondering who Dakotaz was and what Hafu was planning. 

Chapter Text

It had been three months since Hafu had taken Steve away from the Airship. Not that it should matter that much to Apollo, because he had Skadj and he still talked to Steve on and off. And Steve seemed happy. 

It was one day that he was called into the cockpit while he was off duty. Chilled stood in there and flashed a smile at him, though for the most part it seemed almost tense and forced. 

“Chilled? Everything ok?” He asked the commander, confused as to what he had been summoned for and why Chilled seemed almost annoyed. 

“Yeah, it’s nothing…” Chilled seemed to hesitate on his wording. “Inherently bad,” 

“Oh?” Apollo felt confused and he tilted his head, because in all honesty it made no sense for Chilled to have called him in if it wasn’t some sort of mission. And Chilled had said to be there asap. “Then what is it?”

“You’ve been…transferred,” Chilled said and let out a sigh. Apollo felt everything stop, he had no clue where he was being sent or who even wanted him other than maybe Ryan. “You’re heading to the Skeld,”

Apollo perked up, ears alert and tail beginning to wag. So he wasn’t going back to the NLSS, but he was going somewhere completely different. 

“As in, where Hafu is?” 

“Yes. She’s the one who sent the transfer,” Apollo felt so happy, he had always thought that Hafu didn’t want him around. That she wanted far away from the NLSS and him. That’s why he had never tried to transfer to her ship before. “With 5up becoming busier with his commanding officer stuff, Hafu is in need of a backup second in command and since she already knows you,”

“She asked for me?” He honestly thought Hafu would be fine by herself, without a second. Because she had Junk half the year, and Steve who would step up and if he remembered correctly she also had another officer on the ship who was there pretty much year round. 

So Apollo packed his stuff, and headed for a dropship. He knew the Junkyardians were already on the Skeld, so that made it feel a little easier. 

It felt like a much longer flight than it actually was, considering it was only about two hours before the dropship was docking. He waited until the airlock hissed and he stepped out, entering through the decontamination onto the oldest ship in the corporation. 

The Skeld. 

“Apollo! I’m so happy you made it!” Hafu’s voice made him smile as the steam cleared from his vision. He hugged her, always happy to see his old friend. “Come on, let’s get you the tour and settled in,” 

The tour didn’t take long, considering the ship was incredibly small and it didn’t seem that easy to get lost. He knew that he would most likely be handling the navigation stuff, but he could also be assigned anywhere depending on what was needed. 

Hafu showed him the room that he would be sharing. 

“Scott is only here every little bit, so for the most part you’ll be alone. Hence why he can’t be my second in command despite being registered for it,” Hafu explained and Apollo gave her a soft smile. “I’ll be in the admin office, find me if you have any questions,” Hafu then left and Apollo was left alone. 

He set his stuff on the empty bed, noticing how the other had been claimed and seemed like it was barely made. He wondered if this Scott guy was even on the ship. 

Of course there was someone else that Apollo wanted to see since he was up here. He exited his room, and glanced at the hallway of doors that sat above the cafeteria. He walked down the hallway, looking at the names on the doors. Hafu and 5up. Koji and Ellum. Janet, Kimi, and Ovilee. Baycon and Gumi. Aipha. 

It was the end of the hallway, furthest away from the ladder that led down to the cafeteria, and just before the two doors that led to the bunkhouses. One bunkhouse was for any visitors on the Skeld, and the other belonged to the Junkyardians. 

He stepped up to the door, glancing at the names on the sign. Steven and Dakotaz. He remembered the latter name from Hafu, he remembered how Steve understood who that was. He knocked softly, and when there was no answer he knocked a little harder. 

The door swung open and he was greeted with a shorter man wearing purple. The symbol on his suit matched the one of the crewfu. The man tilted his head ever so slightly, barely enough to be noticed. 

“Hello?” he asked, voice pitching up towards the end. Apollo suddenly felt hesitant, because what was he supposed to say? What if Steve wasn’t even in the room. “Can I help you?” Apollo’s mouth went dry and he opened it to speak but nothing came out. 

“DK, what in the world is-” Steve came into view, red suit now donning the same symbol as the rest of his crew. “Apollo!” 

“Hi,” He managed to get out, smiling a little bit. 

“Inside, come on,” Steve pushed past the other man, grabbing Apollo's hand and pulling him into the surprisingly messy room. One desk was covered in random shit, and the other desk was covered in papers. Both beds weren’t made whatsoever either. 

“Uh, forgetting something?” The other man spoke and Steve threw a pillow at him. The man in purple caught it and threw it back. “Steven!” He sounded playful and it caused the commanding officer to laugh. 

“Right, ok. This is Apollo, Apollo this is my partner, officer Dakotaz,” Steve said and Apollo shook the officer's hand. So Steve had a boyfriend then. Not that he was jealous, he had his own boyfriend that he should probably go see. 

“You can call me DK,” He said and Apollo managed to nod. “I have to get to electrical,”

“Training?” DK seemed to nod at Steve’s question before vanishing.

Chapter Text

Apollo had to admit, this was nothing like playing games with the NLSS. It was late at night before curfew hit, they were having drinks that were definitely not supposed to be on the Skeld, and they were playing a game of Uno. By they, it was him, Steve, Koji, and Ellum. With Skadj and DK spectating. 

Apollo had been on the ship for about three months, so late night gaming and drinking weren’t a stranger to him. The players usually switched out with more or less, and Apollo never bothered to actually have an alcoholic drink. 

It was an intense game, and they had been playing for close to an hour. He was going to lose it, he swore he was. People came in and out of the cafeteria, and sometimes they would stop and watch for a minute or two. 

“BULLSHIT!” Steve yelled as he slammed his hands on the table, looking at Ellum who sat across from Apollo and next to Steve. He had just played another plus four on poor Steve. 

“Matchies!” Koji called and placed down a plus four of his own, redirecting the thing onto Ellum. Ellum let out a dramatic cry as he gave Koji a betrayed look. 

“Koji, my king! How far you have fallen!” 

“I had to save my sweet Stevie,” Koji said and Ellum grumbled as he drew his cards. Steve played down one and Apollo placed down one as well. 

“Uno,” He said and felt Skadj take his hand. He smiled at the viking, letting the man wrap an arm around his waist. Skadj had gotten back from a mission a while ago, and was probably tired but for whatever reason he was still up. “Go to bed,” He murmured as Steve, Koji and Ellum began yelling at each other in order to try and stop him. 

“Mmmm,” Skadj hummed and tightened his grip on Apollo's waist. Apollo shook his head and returned his focus to the game. 

He cursed Steve when he realized he would have to draw four or challenge the man. He chose the challenge because on the off chance that Steve was lying he could play down his card. 

Steve was not lying and Apollo huffed at him, drawing his six cards. He was so sick of this game, but he was not going to give up that easily. 

“Damn you,” Apollo muttered when Steve giggled, his brown eyes full of mischief. It was honestly a hot look, not that he would ever think of Steve as hot because right now he had a boyfriend. They both did. 

“What you gonna do about it, puppy?” Steve teased and Apollo narrowed his eyes. 

“Oh boy,” DK said, and Apollo glanced over at the man. He was sitting right next to Koji and looking over the man’s shoulder at his cards. “Play that one,” 

Koji then proceeded to play a plus two, and Apollo let out a sigh of defeat as Ellum and Steve joined him. Apollo then proceeded to draw six after realizing he didn’t have a card to pass it onto Koji. 

Skadj’s head dropped onto Apollo's shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. He was just thankful that his boyfriend took off the metal helmet with the poky horns. 

“Go to bed,” Apollo whispered again, watching as Koji and Steve devolved into an argument over something. “Seriously, I’m not dragging your ass up the ladder,” 

“Come with me,” Skadj murmured into his neck and Apollo sighed. He wasn’t willing to give up this game though. 

“After I win,” Apollo answered softly and Skadj groaned. 

He focused back on the game, giving Koji a mischievous look that resulted in a plus four. 

“Apollo! How could you do this to me?” Koji pouted at him and DK looked like he was saying something into Kojis ear, but Apollo didn’t care enough to listen to it. “Challenge,” Koji sounded confident until Apollo revealed his cards. 

“Sorry,” Apollo winked at him and Koji made a whining sound as he drew six cards, shooting a look at DK who only seemed to shrug in response. 

“Bully,” Koji muttered as the turn passed to Ellum. Apollo wasn’t even bothering to look at the time, but he did make note of Junk coming in from the admin office area. Mostly because he walked directly over to them and Apollo assumed that he was about to shut down the game. It was most likely past curfew after all. 

“Come on,” Junk said softly, grabbing Skadj’s arm and tugging him up. Apollo nearly laughed when Skadj offered no arguments and let himself be led towards the ladder by the arm. The downside of working with your dad. 

Apollo let out a sigh when he noticed the viking helmet that had been left on the table. He would bring that up to his boyfriend after the game of-

“UNO!” Steve yelled and Apollo panicked. He was not going to give up that easily and let Steve win. He had the means to stop him as well as going onto his last card himself. 

Apollo watched as Ellum placed a card down, and so did Koji. Apollo had a feeling he knew what color Steve had, so he played down his color changing card. 

“Uno! How about some classic yellow,” he said and Steve let out a shout.

“How could you? I trusted you!” Steve cried as he drew a card that he could instantly place down. “Uno,” 

Apollo and Steve had a short glaring contest, because they were locked in and both gunning for the win. 

“Ellum, have we just lost?” Koji asked and Apollo glanced at the man in lilac. 

“Not yet my sweet prince,” Ellum said and placed down a draw two card. Koji sighed and drew two, and Apollo was about to place his last card. 

“Boys!” Hafus' voice made them all jump and turn to face the commander. “Curfew. You need to be working or in your rooms,” she said and Apollo sighed. Before he could even take the win, Steve had snatched the cards and started to put them all away. 

“Oh well, nobody wins,” Steve then scampered up the ladder without another word. Apollo groaned and grabbed Skadj’s helmet before heading to the ladder himself. 

Chapter Text

Apollo found Skadj early in the morning, a week before Skadj and his family were set to head back to the airship for six months. Skadj was working on engines, and Apollo sat down on the floor so he could just be near his boyfriend. Steve was off the ship so Apollo figured seeing Skadj was the best option. 

“You know dog, I’ve been thinking,” Skadj said softly and slid out from under the engine. His suit was messy and his hair was a little silly. His viking helmet sat on the floor and so Apollo picked it up and messed with it in his hands. 

“About what?” Apollo asked, tilting his head. Skadj and thinking never mixed, usually leading to some really bad and really dumb ideas. 

“You,” Skadj answered and let out a sigh, running fingers through his hair which just messed it up more. “I don’t think you’re in love with me,” 

“Huh?” Apollo had no clue what Skadj was on about. Honestly. He liked Skadj, a lot. And the man had been a great boyfriend. 

“I think you’re in love with Steve,” 

“I’m not in love with Steve,” Apollo spoke too quickly, which made him wince. Skadj shook his head, moving to be closer to Apollo. He took back his helmet, and Apollo tilted his head. “I leave in a week to go back to the Airship,”

“I know,” 

“I’ll be gone for six months. and…I like you dog,” Skadj said and Apollo felt a pit in his stomach form. “But I don’t think I can do this long distance thing again. I want us to still be friends, but…”

Apollo felt numb, but he nodded. Skadj was his best friend, pretty much always had been. So losing him would suck, but he knew he could live if he wasn’t dating Skadj. 

“I’m sorry,” Skadj murmured and left, leaving Apollo sitting on the floor next to one of the engines. He slowly forced himself to stand up, walking towards the cafeteria and climbing up the ladder. 

He didn’t quite know where he was going yet, but he passed by his room. Mostly because Scott was in there, and while he liked Scott he didn’t really want the man to ask questions about anything. 

He passed Koji and Ellums door, and Hafu and 5ups. He wound up staring at a door with two familiar names on it. So he knocked. 

“Apollo?” Steve asked softly. The room behind him was dimmed and Apollo hadn’t actually expected an answer. But Steve’s hair was wet, he was wearing a beanie and some fingerless gloves, he was off duty. 

He had clearly just gotten back from his mission. 

“Hey, bud,” Apollo let his hand be grabbed and let himself be led into the room. DK was in there, but he seemed like he was already asleep. Steve led him to a bed, tugging Apollo down onto it and Apollo found himself pulling Steve onto his lap. 

He wasn’t even aware he was crying until Steve was brushing away tears. For someone who never seemed to show his real emotions, Steve was surprisingly gentle about cupping his face and letting him cry. 

“What happened?”

“He left me,” Apollo managed to get out and he let Steve hug him tightly. “Because he doesn’t want to do long distance,” 

“Oh Apollo,” Steve sounded so sweet and almost like was remembering something. “I know. It sucks having someone you liked, someone you trusted, break up with you,” Steve wiped more tears away and Apollo gave him a helpless look. 

“He was my best friend,” Apollo whimpered out and all of a sudden he felt like he was a little kid again. He felt like he was hiding behind Skadj and Chilled back in middle school while other kids were being mean. He was back in the same place where he felt so helpless and by himself until he met the Chaos Crew. 

“I know. Can I tell you a story?” Steve asked and Apollo nodded. “A long time ago, before this corporation and before training and before all that. I had a girlfriend and she was great. She was my best friend, my whole world. I was gonna marry her. Her name was Alyssa,” 

Apollo had no clue what any of this had to do with him, but he liked listening to Steve’s voice right now since it was so calming and reassuring. 

“You never expected Skadj to leave you, right?” Apollo nodded at the commanding officer's question. “Well, I never expected for Cib to find me one day and tell me that Alyssa was cheating on me. But she was,”

“You think Skadj was cheating on me?” That sounded nothing like the viking, at all. 

“No,” Steve did give him a small laugh. “Let me finish my story. As I was saying, Alyssa was cheating on me and it hurt. A lot. Much like you I went crying to someone I trusted, I went to Cib. And while he couldn’t snap his fingers and make it all better, he was there for me,”

“Does it get better?”

“It does, eventually,” Apollo nodded in response, because it must get better if Steve was able to trust enough to date DK. “After that though, I started training at the corporation and threw myself into my work. I haven’t managed to date anyone since-”

“What?” Apollo tilted his head and glanced over at where DK was fast asleep. 

“What?” Steve seemed confused by his confusion. 

“I thought…you said…” He was an idiot, that’s what he was learning. “You aren’t dating DK?” 

“No?” Steve started to laugh, and it caused Apollo to shrink back. “Oh god no. That guy is not my type. Besides,” Steve got really close to his face and lowered his voice. “Just between you and me, he’s absolutely smitten with Koji,”

“I mean, you introduced him as your partner-”

“Yeah, for the corporation. Not as if we’re dating. You truly are a Dumbdog,” Steve said and Apollo smiled. He could live with that nickname, and he would be ok as long as he was on this ship. 

Chapter Text

Apollo felt darkness around him, leaving him swimming with nowhere to go. His body was buzzing and there was this sharp ringing sound all around him. It felt like he had been caught in an explosion, but he was their only bomb rigger unless Dan was in play. But Dan had retired all too long ago and left him and Team Unity with the rest of the NLSS. 

The darkness soon made him cold, and he hated the cold. He’d much rather curl up with a blanket or maybe one of the crewmates on the NLSS and watch a movie. Maybe when he woke up from all of this he would find Ryan or Kory, maybe Baer, and convince someone to watch a movie with him. 

The ringing was fading, and for that he was grateful because it was hurting his head. The annoying noise gave way to beeping, the sound of a heart monitor. Had he been caught in some form of explosion? He was normally so careful with bombs. 

He was soon aware of how cold the medbay was, and he wondered why it felt colder than normal. He let out an internal sigh and started to open his eyes, immediately regretting that decision when he was blinded by fluorescent lights. God he hated medbays. 

“He’s awake,” A soft female voice said, and this one wasn’t one he recognized at all. He soon got the person above him to come into focus and he saw a girl with blonde hair, a light pink suit, and angel wings. 

Oh god, he was dead. 

Sinvicta was gonna kill him for being dead.

Forget Sin, Dan might come back and kill him. 

“Hey Apollo,” She said softly, and Apollo came to the sad realization that he was very much alive and that she was still an angel of some sort. “Apollo?” He glanced around, noticing that there were two more girls in the medbay. One in blue, and one in white with her own set of wings. He also noticed that this was not his medbay. 

He grabbed a knife from his boot, something Kory had made sure he never left the ship without, and he grabbed the angel before putting it to her throat. He was in control, that’s what he needed. 

“Who the hell are you guys?” Apollo felt like he was out of breath, he was scared and he knew it. Despite the countless enemies he had fought on Team Unity, or all the dangers he faced on the search and rescue crew, he was the easiest to scare. 

“You don’t recognize us?” the girl in blue asked, frowning and looking more concerned than anything. 

“Am I supposed to?” He caught a glimpse of the symbol on her suit, one he swore he recognized. “Where am I?”

“You’re on the Skeld. I’m Ovilee, that’s Janet and you have a knife to Kimi’s throat,” The crewmate in white said. The Skeld, that was where Hafu had moved to when she became a commander.

“Get me Hafu, now,” He ordered, because he knew how to use the voice of a commander despite only being a crewmate himself. Perks of having worked with Ryan for so damn long. 

“Release Kimi and we will,” At Ovilee’s words, Apollo realized he was in fact still holding Kimi hostage and he released her with a muttered apology. Ovilee then left the room, and Apollo was left looking between the other two medics. As Janet approached him to do some form of medical evaluation or something of the sort, he bared his teeth. 

He did not like medics he didn’t know. He would let medics he knew on the Airship maybe check him over but the only people who ever really got to do medical stuff was Sinvicta or Malf. 

Soon enough Ovilee was back and she had Hafu along with some guy in a red suit. 

“Dumbdog!” the man cried as he got closer. Apollo tensed up, not liking that name at all. 

“Steve, he doesn’t remember,” Hafu spoke like she was reminding him, and the man-Steve-seemed so sad. “Hey Apollo,” she kept her voice soft like she was trying not to spook him. 

“What’s going on?” 

“What do you last remember?” She asked and he paused to think about it. 

“I dunno, Chiblee came into my room to bother me last night. We just got back from a search and rescue mission,” Hafu perked up and was clearly waiting for a more in depth answer. “Uhhhh, it was someone on the Chaos Crew I think. Speedy and Side?” 

“That’s….not great,” Hafu sighed with defeat. “When was the last time you saw Josh, Rob, or Dan,” 

“Josh retired about three months ago,” he said and she nodded. 

“And that answers that question. Apollo, Josh has been retired for about two years. You’ve been working on this ship for nine months,” 

“Oh,” He whispered, ears pinning back. “Can we talk to Ryan?”

“Yeah. I think this place might overwhelm you a little bit right now,” Hafu said and then looked at Steve. “Can you-?”

“Yes,” Steve muttered and walked out. 

“He’ll talk to Ryan,” Hafu explained at Apollo’s confused look. Apollo nodded slightly. “I promise Apollo, we will figure this out,”

“So what’s exactly gonna happen to me?” he asked, unsure of what her plan was. He remembered Hafu, because she used to work on the NLSS. 

“I will probably let you go back to the NLSS until you get your memories back. Escorted of course by one of my crewmates so that I’m fully kept in the loop,”

“What if I don’t get them back?” He was scared he wouldn’t and he would hate to lose Hafu again. He hated when she left the first time because she was the closest thing he ever got to a sister. 

“Then it becomes your choice. The thing is, you’re a second in command here, and that’s a lot of responsibility that gets thrown on you,” she explained and he nodded, so she still didn’t think he was capable of anything? 

He had no clue why he would’ve ever left the NLSS, but whoever convinced him must be someone special. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was sitting on a dropship with the guy who had called him ‘dumbdog’. Sure he was a dog, but he certainly wasn’t dumb! At least that’s what he told himself, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t wrong. 

“So…how do I know you exactly?” Apollo asked softly. They had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour, and Apollo wondered if there was a reason why he didn’t have someone he knew going with him. Like Skadj, he had worked with the NLSS a few times and wouldn’t let Ryan try to pull any bullshit. 

“Well, you saved me about a year and a half ago or something like that. We became friends and all that,” Steve almost sounded like he wanted to avoid the conversation. He was hiding something, and Apollo wanted to know what that was. 

“Really? I saved you?”

“Well, technically the NLSS did. But when I woke up in the medbay there was you,” Steve explained, letting out a sigh. “And you were the first person to ever tell me no when I gave you an order,” 

“I did?” That didn’t sound like him at all. “And why was I the first?”

“Most people don’t want to tell a commanding officer no,” 

Oh, that was why he was the first. And why he did it. He told Ryan no all the damn time, most of them did because Ryan could be dumb a lot of the time. Apollo listened as Steve explained a little bit more, but he kinda zoned out when he started to stare into Steve’s eyes. 

They were a really pretty brown color.

What felt like it was way too soon, the dropship docked and the door started to open. Steve went silent and Apollo followed him off the dropship. Instantly he felt so relieved to see a group of familiar faces. 

In an instant he was being checked on by nearly everyone at once. 

“You alright, kid?” Ryan asked, cupping his face and scanning him over. The dad energy this man gave off was incredible. 

“I’m fine, Ryan,” he said and stepped back. He forgot how overwhelming this could all be, but he was glad to have his little family around him. Chib and Justin both hugged him, and Kory placed a hand on his shoulder with a greeting. Malf gave him a glance over much like Ryan did, and Baer pulled him close and into a tight hug. 

“Medbay,” Sinvicta said, straight to the damn point as always. 

“But-”

“Medbay,” Forget the fact that he had been checked over while on the Skeld, when Sin said to go to the medbay it was not really in anyone's best interest to argue. He may hate the medbay, but Sin was much scarier than his dislike for the place. 

Apollo walked with defeat towards the medbay, Sin following behind him. He reached the area and sat down, answering the same questions he answered on the Skeld and letting Sin do the same physical exam on him that Hafu had her medics do. 

He was honestly ready to just get out of there, go lay down in his room and turn on a movie or read a book or take a nap or something other than deal with medics. 

Soon enough Sinvicta seemed convinced he was fine. It took a lot of arguing to convince Sin that he didn’t need to stay overnight for evaluation and lots of reassurance that he would get him if something felt wrong. 

Apollo was finally able to leave the pesky medbay and made his way to his room, where he promptly collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before there was a weight on his chest and he opened his eyes to see Chib had fully laid down on top of him. 

“Hey Chib,” He muttered and closed his eyes again. He was fully content just like this. His door opened again and he sighed as he was shifted slightly so his head rested in someone's lap. Upon his ears being messed with he knew it was Justin. 

“I can’t believe Hafu sent Steve down here,” Justin said and Apollo leaned into the hands that were scratching at his ears gently. “I feel like there were better options,” 

“Yeah, but this is Steve. The only other real option was Junk but that guy has things to do,” Chib responded and Apollo was content to just listen to them. 

“Hafu is not going to help whatever issues Ryan and Steve have together,” 

“I mean…yeah, but everyone knows that,” Chib responded only for the both to go quiet when the door opened again. Apollo didn’t recognize the footsteps that were crossing the room, so that meant they were probably Steve’s. Opening his eyes proved him right. 

“Steve?” Justin asked and the man sat down on the bed, maybe a little awkwardly.

“Hey,” Steve seemed confident yet so out of place, and those eyes…Apollo had to snap himself out of his thoughts so that he could listen to whatever was being said. “I uh, I’m rooming with you while we’re here,” Steve said with a smile that seemed almost forced. Apollo, who usually hated dealing with people he didn’t know, wasn’t against the idea as much as he thought he would be. 

“Ok,” was the only response he managed to give at the moment. The room settled into more silence until Juston got up. 

“I have duty, come on Chib,” Justin said and Apollo muttered some form of goodbye before he sat up and actually looked at Steve. 

“Want to turn on a movie?” Apollo asked so that they weren’t sitting in complete silence. Not that he couldn’t handle silence, but with someone he felt like he should know in the room it seemed easier than talking. 

“Sure,” Steve responded and Apollo signaled to where his movies sat, seemingly out of order from how they were normally organized. He would need to talk to Chib about that. Apollo let Steve turn on a movie and he laid back down, falling into a comfortable sleep. 

Chapter Text

Apollo hummed as he sat in the cafeteria with Malf and Baer, they were just having breakfast while chatting. The two of them were filling Apollo in on all he had missed since leaving and what memories he was missing. The cafeteria was mostly empty, because everyone else was either sleeping or on duty. There was only one other person in the room with them, sitting right next to him pretty much silently. 

Steve. 

The supposed commanding officer had been with him for the past week, not really ever leaving his side. And honestly it was a little confusing if not annoying. Sure, Steve was by definition cute and really really pretty, not to mention he was funny beyond all belief, but he didn’t quite know why he was just always with him. 

He understood that Steve came from the crewfu with him, that was easy enough to understand. But was Steve there to just babysit him or something? In all honesty he was confused as to why he needed someone with him but apparently Hafu thought he did and he trusted her for some god forsaken reason. 

“Wait, really?” Apollo found himself asking during a story that he wasn’t actually paying all that much attention to. Malf had been explaining a mission they had gone on together, and Apollo couldn’t really care less about the details. But he didn’t really have the heart to tell Malf to shut the fuck up. 

He glanced at Steve and saw the brunette with his head on the table. Apollo was almost curious as to why, but then he remembered that the man was probably bored and was actually listening to Malf talk. 

“My boys!” Justin’s voice cut over Malf’s and Apollo smiled at the man. Malf huffed at him and Justin put his hands up in mock surrender. “What’s wrong with him?” Justin signaled towards Steve. 

“I dunno, he’s been like that for like twenty minutes,” Baer said and Apollo titled his head, why had Steve been like that for that long? 

“Did he fall asleep?” Malf asked and Apollo tapped his foot against Steve’s leg gently to see if he would respond at all. Steve tapped him back and Apollo tried his best not to smile. 

“I think so,” Apollo lied, and well he was good at lying. Malf nodded and stretched, getting up to leave for duty or for a nap. Whichever one was going to happen. Baer also walked off and Apollo glanced at Steve before tapping him again. “He’s gone,” 

“Oh thank god, I thought that story would never end,” 

“Same man,” 

“You little liar,” Justin called him out and Apollo gave him an almost innocent smile, flashing his sharp canines at the man. 

“Like you haven’t ever pulled this bullshit on him or anyone else,” Apollo could play this game even without his memories, and he could easily win. 

“We don’t talk about any of this,” Justin hissed before leaving. Apollo held back his laughter and looked at Steve, who also seemed like he was trying not to laugh. 

“Thank god that worked,” Steve said. “Is it always like this?” 

“No, I swear it isn’t. That he isn’t. But it’s also Malf, he just wants to make sure I know everything that happened,” Apollo promised him. “It could be worse. Dan could be up here,” Apollo loved Team Unity dearly, but by god sometimes all they did was talk and argue. In specific the other three, he himself was always more keen on just sitting back and watching or listening. 

“Do I wanna know what that means?” Steve asked but Apollo was already getting up and bringing his stuff back to the kitchen. Apollo then decided to walk out of the cafeteria, and like always Steve followed him. 

He couldn’t tell if it was because Steve felt obligated to stay near him or was uncertain about a different ship or if it was something else entirely, but he had to admit that he did enjoy the man's company. 

It was odd, he felt like he knew nothing about him yet he felt so comfortable around Steve all the time. And he was someone who liked to be alone more often than not, so the fact that he enjoyed having Steve around him and was even perfectly fine with sharing his room said something. 

Maybe they were something before he lost his memories, the man had come into the medbay and called him Dumbdog. He remembered the heartbroken look on Steve’s face when he snapped at him. 

So when they got back to his room and Apollo turned on some music, he looked at the guy sitting next to him and he asked a question he wasn’t sure if he should. 

“Were we dating or something?” 

“Huh?” Steve looked confused and Apollo felt like a fool. “Oh, uh no we weren’t. Personally I’d consider us best friends but…that could just be me,” 

“I guess that makes sense,” He muttered, unsure if it was disappointment or something else that bubbled up in his chest. 

“Why?” 

“No reason,” He muttered and hummed along to the song playing. Steve studied him for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something but decided against it. 

He felt so stupid, of course he wouldn’t be dating Steve or else he would’ve already figured it out. Someone on the stupid ship would’ve said something or maybe Steve would’ve said something on the dropship ride over.

He should’ve known better than to ask such a dumb question to Steve, because now Steve was just studying him. Apollo flopped over on his side, turning his back to Steve and hoping to just ignore him enough that he would go away. 

“You going to sleep there, bud?” Steve’s voice brought him out of his thoughts for a moment and he just hummed. When he felt a hand in his hair and short nails scratching at his ears, he leaned into it. He may hate people touching or messing with them, but for whatever reason he was fine with Steve doing it. 

Chapter Text

It had been a long two weeks for Apollo. Being on the NLSS was great, but honestly he was bored. Because Sinvicta didn’t want him actually doing anything, he was just kinda…stuck. That was the best way to describe it. 

He tried to do something in navigation once, just checking the course since he was over there and someone, he wasn’t sure who, had reported him to Sin and he was threatened by the terrifying medic. 

And the last thing he wanted was to be strapped down until his memories came back. If they ever came back. With each passing day he became more worried that they may not come back. 

Apollo was sitting there and playing Uno with Justin, Chiblee, and Steve. They had nothing better to do. The game was nearing an end and it currently seemed like Apollo was about to win. 

“That was a Koji move,” He said after Steve made a random play. The other three went quiet and Apollo looked at them with confusion. “What?”

“Apollo, do you remember Koji?” Steve asked softly and Apollo blinked at him. He remembered Uno and playing with other people on the Skeld but not all that well. Apollo shrugged at that and just looked at Justin since it was now his turn. 

“Right. Come on,” Justin got up and grabbed Apollo gently by the arm, meaning that they were done playing. “Let’s go see Sinvicta,” Apollo looked helplessly at the game as he was led to the medbay where the medic was in fact working. Steve had followed them to, and Apollo was gently pushed to sit on one of the beds in there. 

“Really?” Apollo grumbled and Steve sat next to him, so he did the only logical thing and slumped into Steve’s side while dropping his head on Steve’s shoulder. 

“Can I help you?” Sin asked, looking confused when he turned around. 

“I think Apollo’s starting to get his memories back,” Justin explained and Sin nodded, walking closer and making Apollo sit up from his shockingly comfortable position. This was all bullshit. 

“Both of you are dismissed,” Sin said while looking at Justin and Steve. “Out,” Apollo watched as the traitor and Steve walked out of the medbay. 

Sin proceeded to give him another medical evaluation, and honestly it felt like the thousandth one since he got there. It was then explained to him that he would slowly be regaining his memories, and that whenever he felt ready to head back to the Skeld then he would be allowed to go. 

Apollo couldn’t help but smile when he heard that and he was dismissed from the medbay as well. Thankfully. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but his legs took him to where Steve was. 

“Steve!” He said as he entered his bedroom, smiling brightly. “Sin says my memories are going to start coming back!” He sat down next to Steve and saw the man look relieved. 

“That’s amazing. When do we get to go back to the Skeld?” 

“Whenever I feel like it. I mean obviously Imma need a bit because I highly doubt that a fuzzy memory of Koji and…”

“Ellum,” Steve filled in the blank name for him. 

“Ellum, yeah, is helpful but it’s a start,” Apollo felt happy, and he couldn’t help but just grin. Steve gently scratched his ears again and Apollo let himself just be there in the moment. 

Well he tried too. 

All of a sudden he was back on the Skeld, laying on a bed in a messy room decorated in purples and reds. A hand was messing with his ears and Steve’s voice became apparent in his mind. Steve was just talking, seemingly in the middle of a rant while Apollo was listening. He was called Dumbdog, and well…he really didn’t seem all that against the name anymore. 

He was brought back when Steve began to hum and then he realized he was still in his room on the NLSS. 

The next two weeks felt so mentally and almost physically draining to Apollo. Every little thing Steve did seemed to bring him back to a moment from before. And everytime it left Apollo disoriented and confused for a little bit. 

Sure, remembering Skadj wasn’t all that much fun, but at least it did explain why the viking hadn’t been sent with him. 

After those two weeks though, he was pretty sure if he was missing any memories then they weren’t all that important. 

He was currently laying down with Steve in his bed, another memory of him and Hafu arguing about something stupid had come back to him. It was a dumb argument that neither actually seemed to care about in one way or another. 

When his brain returned him to his current position with Steve facing away from him, he made up his mind then and there. 

“Steve,” He whispered and the guy next to him just hummed. Apollo rolled his eyes and shook Steve’s shoulder. 

“No, go to sleep,” Apollo rolled his eyes as his best friend tried to push him away. 

“Fine, I guess we’ll just stay on this ship forever,” He huffed and Steve shot up and looked at him with wide eyes. 

“You want to go home? Dumbdog, are you sure?” Steve sounded like he was holding back his excitement. It was also the first time he had been called by that nickname since being on the Skeld. 

“Yes. I’m sure,” He said it like it was the most painfully obvious thing ever. “We can talk to Ryan in the morning and-” He was cut off by Steve getting out of bed and heading to the door. “Where are you going?” 

“Fuck waiting until morning, I’m gonna talk to him right now,” Steve was then gone and out of the room. Apollo stared at the closing door and tilted his head at it. Steve must’ve been really excited to get back to the Skeld. 

Apollo shrugged to himself and curled up to go to sleep. 

Chapter Text

Apollo said goodbye to everyone when morning rolled around, including a very unhappy looking Ryan. But boy was he glad to be stepping onto the dropship with Steve by his side, it was like a breath of fresh air. He loved the NLSS, but sometimes it just felt suffocating there. 

“Ready to go?” Steve asked him and Apollo’s ears flicked forward. The dropship door shut behind him and Apollo nodded. 

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he said, smiling. Steve gave him a grin and the dropship launched. Apollo was suddenly grateful for the gentle launching of the ships because if not he most certainly would’ve been tossed off his feet and thrown into a wall. 

Not that that’s happened before. 

“Fuck yes dude! I’m so glad to be going home,” Apollo said as he sat down on a chair. They had a bit before they would actually reach where they were going, since they had to head to Polus. 

“I know. I talked to Hafu last night, she’s ready to have us back,” 

“Well duh, I’m one of the most competent people on that ship,” Apollo reminded Steve, who looked offended. Apollo got up and walked closer to him. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she misses you because DK complains when you’re gone,” Apollo made his voice overly sweet, and in seconds Steve had knocked him to the ground. 

“How dare you!” Steve was laughing, like he couldn’t handle keeping his composition. It was a delightful sound, honestly, and Apollo felt unable to shove Steve off of him as his heart pounded in his chest. 

A sentence that he didn’t dare ask caught in the back of his throat, a question never to be heard was buried as he bit his lip and let his tail wag the tiniest bit underneath him. 

“I have bested the puppy dog!” Steve cried above him, and Apollo reached up to grab his shoulders, pulling Steve down to be face to face. Why? Because he honestly expected Steve to shove himself away or fight back, but that didn’t happen. 

Instead all of a sudden the prettiest pair of brown eyes were right there, and warm breath mixed with his own. 

“Hey,” Apollo was unable to come up with anything else to say, his brain suddenly turning off and becoming an empty void. 

“Hey,” Steve murmured right back. Apollo opened his mouth to either say something stupid or something dumb, but he never got to find out what as the dropship started to shake. 

“What was that?” Apollo asked as Steve sat up. 

“Uh, I don’t know…” Steve and Apollo were up and moving really fast, rushing to the computer to check the navigation systems and the cameras. 

Apollo was hoping it was just something being weird with the dropship, he was hoping a simple call to a nearby ship would cause everything to be easy. They were close to Polus. 

“That can’t be good,” Steve said and Apollo hated to agree. A large ship was near them and seemed to have some sort of attraction beam that was pulling them in. It must’ve been what caused the original shaking. 

“I know that ship,” Apollo whispered, recognizing the logo on the side of it. It was a mix of three letters, all interconnecting and forming the name of the traitorous commander. “5up and I used to work on that ship briefly, it was a temporary thing and then the commander kinda went crazy and we had to escape,”

“What could he want from us?” Steve asked. “Why come after a single dropship?” 

“Let’s see. We’re in a dropship that is registered to a commanding officer, just left the NLSS ship which is where I reside and that commander hates me, not to mention we’re going to the Skeld which is where 5up is. If he hates me, he despises 5up,” Apollo quickly explained. “But I do have a plan,” 

“I hope it's a good one,” Steve muttered and Apollo ran fingers through his hair while letting out an exaggerated sigh. 

“Well, kinda,” Apollo managed to get out. “It involves crashing our ship and sending the coordinates to the Skeld,” 

“Are you crazy?” Steve asked and they both glanced at the monitors, which only showed them getting closer to the ship. “On second thought, yeah, let's do that,” 

“I just need to override the engines…hope you weren’t too attached to this dropship,” 

“Oh yeah no, it’s fine,” Steve’s voice sounded strained but Apollo didn’t have much time to really think about it. He uploaded some coordinates from where they were expected to crash to the Skeld, then he turned all resources to the engines. 

It would overload the ship and make the landing a little harder but it was that or get caught by xQc. This seemed like the better alternative. 

He felt the dropship lurch suddenly. 

“We’re out of that beam thing,” Steve called to him. “And we’re in a spiral,” 

“Get strapped in, this is gonna hurt,” Apollo yelled. He buckled into the nearest seat and prepared for a rough landing. 

The next thing he knew, he was stranded in the cold of Polus. Normally it was fine, but since they crashed it seemed like his heater wasn’t working. At least his oxygen tank seemed fine. The dropship around him was in flames, and he had no clue which direction he was supposed to go. 

He scrambled over to where Steve was still strapped in, unmoving and no responsive. Checking his pulse revealed that at least Steve was alive. Apollo let out a sigh of relief, unstrapping Steve and pulling him close before starting a simple medical evaluation with the tools he had. 

Which wasn’t a lot. 

A hand on his shoulder made him flinch, and he turned to see a familiar dark blue suit. It was Janet, she had found them. A purple suit, a pink suit, a yellow suit, and more. Hands pulled him away from Steve, he was then faced with an orange suit. It was Skadj. 

Apollo let himself collapse into the arms of his ex-boyfriend/best friend. He let himself be picked up and carried back to the base. 

Chapter Text

Apollo woke up again in the medbay, medics leaning over him. This time he recognized them though. He was on the Skeld, he knew that much. He wondered how long they had been on the Skeld and when he had been moved to the Skeld and from Polus. 

“Hey Dumbdog,” Janet said softly. “How you feeling?” 

“Fine, tired but fine,” Apollo then realized that he had no clue what happened to Steve. “Steve-”

“Right next to you,” Kimi answered. “He hasn’t woken up,” 

“What?” Apollo felt a sinking feeling in his gut. “He hasn’t woken up?” 

“No, and right now we don’t expect him to wake up for a while,” Apollo just blinked at Janet, unable to comprehend the words for a moment. 

“He’s in a coma?” Apollo asked after a moment, earning nods from both of the medics in the medbay. “How long have I been out?” 

“A few hours. Skadj carried you back here, and we ran a few evaluations. You weren’t seriously hurt but Steve hit his head pretty bad,” Apollo nodded in response to the head medic. “If you feel up to it, then you can leave the medbay. Or we can keep you for observation,” 

“I’d like to go, will you-?” He glanced at Steve, laying there motionless. 

“I’ll let you know when he wakes up,” Kimi offered and Apollo nodded. He forced himself out of the bed and away from the medbay, he couldn’t stand to be in there while Steve wasn’t even awake. 

He had made a stupid move, crashing a dropship with no forcefield to soften to blow. What had he been thinking? Crashing a ship like that would most certainly get someone killed, and even though it hadn't, who's to say that Steve would even be the same when he woke up. 

“Hey Dog,” He heard Skadjs voice from behind him. He turned to see his friend walking coser. “Glad to see you’re up,” 

“Yeah, I guess,” he muttered and Skadj just hugged him. Apollo melted into his arms and they stayed like that for a few minutes. “Steve’s gonna be alright,” Skadj said as he stepped back, hands resting on his shoulders. 

“I feel guilty,” He admitted, and Skadj led him to sit down at a table in the cafeteria. “There had to have been a smarter way out of that-”

“Apollo,” He was cut off by the softest voice he had ever heard from Skadj. “You are by far the smartest guy I know. You knew the risks of that move, but you also had a commanding officer with you. You didn’t have much choice,” 

“Right,” Apollo whispered. Skadj pulled him close and back into a tight hug, and Apollo just closed his eyes and remained there for a while. 

Three months passed with Steve being unresponsive, and in reality it sucked. Apollo felt anxious all the time about it, and he couldn’t help but want to be in there all the time. So instead of trying to constantly be in the medbay, Apollo found himself working as much as he possibly could. 

He felt like he was going crazy, waiting for the day when someone would tell him that Steve was ok. That Steve was awake. 

But it never came. 

“Dumbdog,” Apollo turned to see Hafu coming into the navigation room with 5up. “Why are you up?” Hafu asked as she crossed her arms. 

“I’m working,” He responded, turning his eyes back to the navigation system. It was a pretty easy job, but he enjoyed it because it was easy as compared to some jobs. 

“No you aren’t,” 5up retorted and Apollo was pulled away by the commanding officer. “You were on duty last night and all day today, after you traded shifts with Ellum. You’ve been working for too many hours,” 

“5ups right, Dumbdog. You need to go to sleep. The corporation forbid something happens to me, you have to be the one to step up,” Hafu said and Apollo crossed his arms and pinned his ears back. 

“You have Junk, 5up, and DK on the ship. All of which come before me-”

“But you’re my second in command-”

“Only if 5up goes down or isn’t here. With all due respect Hafu, I’m fine,” 

“Dumbdog, I hate to have to do this. but…KIMI!” 5up called and the medic came in. She tilted her head and frowned when seeing Apollo awake. Apollo realized he was about to be taken off duty until a medic let him work. 

“Guys-” Apollo tried to argue but Kimi spoke first. 

“Dumbdog, medical rest. You can either spend it in your room or in the medbay,” Kimi said, and Apollo hated how he knew he needed to listen. He may hate medics and medbays, but as a medic himself he knew that listening would be the best option. 

So he left navigation and went to his room. Scott was in there and doing some work on his tablet. Apollo dropped onto his  own bed and closed his eyes. 

“I wondered if I was going to have to come down there myself,” 

“Not now Scott,” Apollo opened his eyes to look at the elf in the bed next to his own. 

“Dumbdog, you can’t be this hard on yourself. At the very least you can’t work yourself until you drop. Last thing we need is to have to worry about you and Steve,” Apollo let out a heavy sigh. 

“I know. And I know I shouldn’t be this stressed. Steve is in the care of some of the best medics in the corporation, minus Tina, so I know he’ll be fine,” 

“So what else is it?” Scott asked and Apollo tilted his head a little bit. “Because if it’s not the fact you think he’s gonna die…then it must be something else. Right?” 

“Scott, I got the guy I’m pretty sure I’m in love with knocked into a coma and destroyed his only dropship left from his crew,” 

“Did you just say that you were in love with Steve?” Apollo pinned his ears back defensively as he glared.

“Not a word leaves this room Smajor,” 

“Of course,” Scott winked at him and Apollo curled up by himself. Maybe he was in love with Steve, and maybe, just maybe, he was perfectly ok with that

Chapter Text

Apollo was still avoiding the medbay, since he was maybe overthinking a little bit after his conversation with Scott the night before. He had admitted, out loud, that he was in love with Steve. Worse, he admitted it to Scott. That’s not even someone he was that close with. 

But he was close with Koji and Ellum, so that's where he was right now. Sitting on Kojis bed while the other two sat on Ellums bed. 

“And honestly, I don’t even know what to do,” He finished with a huff after explaining everything he could think of to the two. And while he wasn’t sure how much help Ellum would be, maybe Koji would have some insight. 

“You could just tell him-” Koji started but Ellum laughed. 

“What? Like you’ve asked DK out. Who are you to talk about matters of the heart?” Ellum asked, laughing his ass off. 

“Hey! He’s an officer, I can’t just ask him out. He outranks me by quite a few ranks!” 

“And Steve is a commanding officer, I think I win,” Apollo retorted and stuck his tongue out. Koji responded in like. Ellum was about to say something when there was a knock on the door and then it just opened. 

Apollo turned to see who it was, expecting maybe DK or Scott or hell even 5up to join them. But instead it was someone who hadn’t been walking around for a few months. He was quiet as he realized it was in fact Steve. 

Apollo should’ve joined in on Koji and Ellum while they both popped up and greeted Steve. He should’ve apologized for the dropship. He should’ve hugged Steve after so long. Instead he sat on Kojis bed and stared right before the dumbest sentence came tumbling from his mouth. 

“Are you supposed to be out of the medbay?” The three boys went quiet as they stared at him. 

“Uhhh, what Janet doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” Steve answered and walked over to him. Apollo suddenly had the weight of Steve on his lap, and he instinctively put his arms around his waist. “And you wouldn’t be a snitch, would you?” it came out as practically a pur, and Apollo forced himself not to melt at it. Steve blinked those pretty brown eyes at him and Apollo nearly gave in right then and there. 

He stopped himself. 

“No, Janet would kill me and I would lose my medic license thingy that makes me a jack,” Apollo said and picked up Steve with ease. Steve let out a whine as he was carried down the hall and to the ladder. 

“Dumbdog, puppy, my best friend. Please. Don’t do this to me,” Steve begged and clawed at him. Apollo couldn’t tell if Steve was actually begging not to go back to the medbay or if he was being dramatic. 

“Well, you can go down that ladder the easy way or the hard way,” 

“You aren’t getting me down that ladder,” Steve said to him with a huff. Apollo let out a sigh. He flung Steve over his shoulder and slid down the ladder with ease. “Nooooo,” Steve whined and went limp. 

“I’m sorry Steve, but it has to be done,” Apollo said, knowing that Steve may hate him. But having a medic make sure that Steve was ok and uninjured was for the best. 

Apollo put Steve in the medbay and let Janet look over him, before the medbay doors slid open and a pouting Steve walked out. 

“Oh honey,” Apollo cooed at him and walked over, pulling Steve close to his chest. Steve huffed at him but Apollo felt the weight he was supporting increase as Steve put more weight on him. “I’m sorry, but she could make sure you were ok,” 

“Why couldn’t it have been you?” Steve asked, pouting at him. 

“Because you hate medics and I don’t want you to associate that with me,” Apollo said and used one hand to cup Steve’s face. All of a sudden they were once again face to face, and Apollo stepped back. “Let’s get some food,” He said and grabbed Steve’s hand. 

They walked the short distance to the cafeteria and Apollo grabbed them some food from the premade stuff that 5up had. He sat down with Steve and let out a sigh. 

“Listen Steve, about what happened. I’m sorry,” Steve looked at him confused and Apollo continued to talk. “I destroyed your only dropship from Sugar Pine 7, and knocked you into a coma, and-”

“Apollo. Shut up. You made a quick decision to keep us from being caught. You risked our lives and you knew what needed to be done,” Steve said and placed his hands on top of Apollos. “You may be a Dumbdog but you sure are brave,” 

“I’m anything but brave, but thank you,” Apollo responded. “I’m just glad you’re ok,” 

“Me too. Besides, a dropship can be replaced. We cannot,” 

“I guess so. But…” He said and gave Steve a small grin. “I talked to DK and he pulled some strings. The NLSS went and salvaged what they could, they brought it to Mira and in a few days you’ll have your dropship back. At least what they had,” 

“You got my dropship repaired?” 

“Yup. I know it wasn’t the most fair thing ever in order to escape. I felt bad,” 

“Dumbdog, that is the sweetest thing ever,” Apollo was about to respond when Steve moved close and hugged him tightly. Apollo hugged him right back. “Seriously, thank you. And I don’t say those words sincerely to anyone,” Steve then stood up. “I have to go. Toast probably wants to know I’m up,” Steve seemed like he was trying to just leave so Apollo watched him go. 

Maybe he would never tell Steve he was in love with him, but he knew for a fact he would survive as long as he had Steve in his life. So he picked up what was left from him and Steve before heading up to his own room. 

Chapter Text

Apollo ended up doing a little bit of work after Steve walked away, but eventually he decided to go check in on the commanding officer that he hadn’t seen for a few hours. Granted he hadn’t seen either 5up or Junk in a while, but he didn’t care much to go check on them. 

“Steve?” he asked as he knocked on the door. He heard a lot of scrambling and then Steve opened the door, looking red faced and maybe a little flustered. Apollo was confused, what was going on?

“Dumbdog!” Steve threw an arm around his shoulder and led him into the empty bedroom. “What’s going on?” 

“What’s going on with me? Dude, what's going on with you?” Apollo asked as he tilted his head. “Are you ok?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve grinned at him. “Awww, is the little puppy dog worried about me?” Steve was teasing him, and all it did was earn an eye roll from Apollo. 

“Oh my god, you’re hiding something!” Apollo said as he caught sight of the tablet. It had Ryans contact pulled up, but what in the world was Steve talking to Ryan about? Most of their talks devolved into arguments. 

“It’s my own business. Classified,” Steve said and Apollo was pretty sure he was being lied to but honestly what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t push because Steve was a commanding officer meaning that it could very well be classified. 

“Ok…” Apollo made sure it was obvious in his voice that he didn’t believe Steve one bit. 

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you,” Steve sounded almost sly as he gave Apollo an innocent smile. Apollo didn’t like that smile, it seemed like bad news. Or like he was gonna be convinced to do something he didn’t want to do. 

“About what?” he asked as he sat down with Steve. 

“Well, you are an amazing second in command to Hafu,” Apollo did not like where this conversation was going. At all. “But I think that you are capable of a lot more,” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Apollo asked, his curiosity peaked. 

“Have you ever considered being a commander? I’m sure that it would be fine if you trained under Hafu-” Apollo’s ears stopped working. 

Be a commander? It was one thing to be a second in command here where there were plenty of others to step up in case something happened to Hafu, or on the Airship where there were so many other seconds to jump in and help. 

It was a whole other thing to be the one making the calls. 

He really wasn’t sure he was ready for that. He wasn’t even sure he was really ready to be a second in command, much less be a commander. 

“I can’t,” Apollo whispered. Steve stopped talking and he stared at Apollo for a moment. “That’s a lot of pressure,” 

“I know. And I know it might be a scary thought but…Dumbdog, you would make an excellent commander,” 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Apollo's mind went to all the dumb things he had ever done in his life. Every little mistake he had made and everyone that had gotten hurt because of it. Everything that had ever gone wrong. “I’d be a horrible commander,” 

“Dumbdog, you got us away from xQc. Used your contacts to get my dropship repaired. Served as a second in command on two ships,” Steve took a small breath as he paused. “Plus, I’ve looked at your files. You have connections that range across every single ship in this corporation,” 

“So?” 

“That’s something not many people have. Not many commanders have,” Steve explained to him, but Apollo only looked down at the bed. “People like you, this crew likes you. And I’m sure that-“ 

“Steve, that would mean leaving this place,” that would mean leaving Steve. 

“Hey, I know some things and I might pull some strings. But I promise you that if you go and talk to Hafu about becoming a commander then you won’t be going anywhere,” 

“You swear?” Apollo whispered and Steve hugged him. 

“I swear,” Apollo nodded at those words. 

“Then let’s go talk to Hafu?” He meant to say it like a statement but it was more of a question. Steve seemed to light up though, pretty brown eyes sparkling.

Apollo's hand was grabbed and he was led to the admin office where both Hafu and 5up were. 

“Steve, Dumbdog,” Hafu greeted them simply. 5up flashed a smile from where he was sitting on the admin table, which was not somewhere he was supposed to sit but oh well. It was 5up, what were they supposed to do about him?

“Commander,” Steve sounded almost sly once again, and Apollo nearly laughed when Hafu let out a defeated sigh. 5up straightened up though, watching them closely and it kinda made Apollo want to bolt and run out the door as fast as possible.

“What did you two do? Is anything broken and do I need to get my ship repaired?” 

“Why do you always assume I break something?” Hafu finally turned to face them and crossed his arms. “I’ve only been awake for like a day!” 

“Steve,” Hafu sounded like a mom and Steve huffed in response. Apollo just kept looking between them. 

“Even if I did break something, that’s not what I’m here to talk about with you,” Steve said and Hafu nodded for him to continue. “I will talk to Toast and get everything set up, but Dumbdog here will be training under you to become a commander,” Hafu smiled and turned to him.

“Really?” He nodded in response, unable to really form words at the moment. He couldn’t believe that this was all happening. Hafu was hugging him very suddenly, and he awkwardly hugged her back. “I am so proud of you, this is amazing. What caused this?” She asked as she stepped back. 

“Yeah, I guess I’ve started believing in myself more since I got up here,” He wasn’t gonna tell her that every big step of progress was all because of Steve. 

Chapter Text

The next six months led to more stress than Apollo had ever dealt with in his entire life. He was near constantly with Hafu, and he didn’t have time to relax. Late nights and early mornings became a staple of his world, and he felt like he never got enough sleep. 

He had no clue how Hafu did this, but no matter what he was gonna push through. He was gonna be a commander. 

And maybe it was just him, because he saw Hafu relax all the time. She may not always play games with them but she still found time to sit and relax. He never could, even when doing the same thing as her. It was a him problem, so he wasn’t gonna mention how he felt like he was struggling. 

There were some really cool things about the training, he got to observe commander meetings and see how they all operated. He also got to know more classified things, things that commanders can’t tell their crewmates. 

He was sitting in the cafeteria, while Hafu had walked off. She was off duty but he was finishing up some non commander work. Because he still had to do at least parts of his normal job while also doing this. 

“Dumbdog!” Koji called out as he seemingly appeared behind him. Apollo barely flinched, honestly not paying all that much attention to the crewmate who called his name. 

“Koji,” he responded, not looking away from his tablet. He didn’t want to be rude and ignore Koji completely, especially in case it was important information being passed along. 

“Come play a game with us!” Koji sat down directly next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. “You’ve been working-“

“Can’t, busy,” Apollo cut him off, not wanting to get his friends' hopes up. 

“But-“ Apollo gave him an apologetic look and Koji sighed. “Ok,” he sounded sad, and Apollo felt a little sorry. He did watch as Koji walked away before he went back to work. 

All of a sudden his tablet was yanked from in front of him and he looked up with wide eyes, shocked. Who would touch his-?

Oh. 

Standing above him with their arms crossed was Steve, who did not look quite happy. His green tablet having now vanished into Steve’s bag, presumably. 

“Hey!” He said, and Steve let out a huff.

“You know, I wouldn’t have convinced you to do this if I knew it would control you,” Steve finally said after a moment and Apollo had to tilt his head in confusion. 

“Excuse me,” 

“Well, ever since you started training it’s like all you do is work. And you already worked a whole lot,” Steve sat down next to him, putting a hand over his. Apollo pinned his ears back and looked away, not wanting to talk about this. 

“I-“ Apollo didn’t actually have words so he fell silent. 

“Look at me,” Steve whispered and there was suddenly a hand under his chin, guiding his face back to look into those pretty eyes that Steve had. “Dumbdog, Apollo, come on,” Steve grabbed both his hands and pulled him to his feet. 

“What?” Apollo felt confused as he was led away from where he had been working. “Where are we going?” 

“To take a break,” Steve said gently and Apollo shook his head, planting his feet and forcing them both to come to a full stop. Steve turned to look at him with a frown. “Let’s go,” Steve tugged on him but Apollo remained planted. 

“I can’t,” he said, trying to stay firm. Steve’s face went from confused to stern, and all of a sudden Apollo wanted to shrink away because that’s the same look Ryan got when he was about to act like he was in charge. 

“Yes, you can. You’ve been working nonstop for who knows how long. So either you come take a fucking break, I pull rank and make this an order, or I can get a medic,” Apollo felt like a puppy being scolded for digging in the dirt. 

“Ok,” he whispered, letting himself be taken to the ladder and to the bedrooms. He was tugged by Steve into Kojis room. 

“You don’t even need to play. Just come sit and watch,” Steve said. Apollo nodded and walked into the room where there was an intense game of battleship raging on. Koji and Ellum were going at each other, and it looked like Koji was winning. 

Apollo watched as the three cycled through playing, all while Steve was curled up on his lap. Steve argued with Ellum, and eventually Apollo took a chance to play against Ellum. 

It was fun, and eventually Apollo was led from the bedroom to go to sleep. He was brought to Steve’s room, and Steve lay down directly on top of him. 

“What are you doing?” Apollo asked, amusement crossing his face. Despite knowing he had work to do, something about Steve made him shove that all so far back in his head. 

“Getting ready for bed,” Steve answered, and Apollo just let out a content sigh. He closed his eyes, knowing he hadn’t gotten good sleep for a while. “Dumbdog,” Steve eventually whispered so Apollo opened his eyes for a moment. 

“Yeah?” 

“Please don’t make me babysit you. If you can’t handle being in training and won’t take care of yourself then I won’t have a choice but to tell Toast and pull this away from you,” 

That sounded like a horrible thing, he had already put in so much effort into becoming a commander so yeah, he wouldn’t let this be taken from him. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to take care of myself,” he promised and Steve grinned at him. All of a sudden his ears were being scratched by short nails and he couldn’t help but groan and just lean into it.

“Good boy,” god he hated being called that, but right now he didn’t have any real arguments as Steve messed with his ears. 

Chapter Text

Apollo woke up one night with a bad feeling, actually it was the day after he had been forced to take a break. He woke up, alone, in Steve’s room. Which was odd, Steve and DK didn’t like leaving people alone in their room due to their high ranks in the corporation. 

Something was wrong, his gut was practically screaming at him. He tried to keep his bearings, stumbling out of bed and towards the ladder. There seemed to be this beeping in his ears, and he recognized it as a bomb. 

And that really wasn’t good.

Could he defuse it? Maybe. Did he have time? No clue. 

Sure they had Koji and Baycon on the ship, both of who were considered bomb experts and could defuse the bomb but he didn’t know where it was or how much time they had. 

He pressed the button in the middle of the table. 

In no time there were so many people coming down the ladder and Kimi came from the comm room. Hafu and 5up appeared last, looking unamused and the commander narrowed her eyes. 

“Dumbdog?” She asked, voice hinting that there better be a good reason to all this. 

“There’s a bomb on the ship,” Apollo felt breathless as he spoke, and that seemed to wake everyone up a bit more. “Don’t know where or how long till it goes off-“ 

“Where’s Steve and DK?” 5up suddenly asked and DK appeared from the direction of electrical. 

“We have to go. Now! Steve knocked me out so I couldn’t stop him from setting the bomb,” DK said and Hafu started shouting orders. 

“Let’s go! Move!” She shouted. “Forget grabbing anything, get to the dropships!” Everyone headed that way, which was thankfully not that far. “DK, is there time to diffuse?” 

“No ma’am,” he responded and everyone got onto the dropships pretty quickly. The closest ship to them was the airship, so that’s where they were heading.

Glancing at the cameras, he watched as the Skeld was blown into bits. 

Getting there, getting situated, and letting Toast know what was going on took a few hours. Apollo felt exhausted as he went to his room, well. Bunkhouse. Due to the amount of them it had ended up with them being broken up into groups and put in bunkhouses. 

Apollo lay on the bottom bunk, unmoving. He felt so tired and he wanted to sleep but all he could hear was the beeping from the bomb. He curled into himself, covering his ears and hoping the noise would go away. 

“Dumbdog?” Koji asked softly and he shot up with wide eyes. “Easy Apollo, it’s all good,” 

“Sorry, guess I’m a little on edge,” he whispered. Koji sat down next to him and Apollo made sure they weren’t touching. He couldn’t believe that Steve would betray them. And for what? 

“Aw, my poor Dumbdog,” Koji moved to touch him but Apollo tensed up. Koji must’ve noticed because he quickly retracted his hand. “Thinking about Steve?” He asked and Apollo looked at the floor. 

“I just…I don’t get it,” he said, looking at his feet. “Steve is a commanding officer, is he really a traitor? With everything he knows…” Apollo trailed off and went silent. 

“I’m sure it will all make sense with time,” leave it to Koji to be stupidly positive. “Come on, let’s not dwell on this. Let’s get you a distraction,” he said and tugged Apollo to his feet. Apollo didn’t appreciate it but he did follow. 

Of course the distraction was Ellum and Platy dragging him into a game of uno. Apollo let himself play but his mind wouldn’t stop wandering. How could Steve have done this? 

It hurt a lot. After promising him to take care of himself, after Steve made sure he was ok, after he had been so ridiculously sweet the night before. It felt like such a sudden change. 

How long had Steve been planning this? Was that why he wanted Apollo to take a break? Let his guard down? Was it all just a ploy to get him off duty so that there were less people for him to take out? 

This sucked. A lot. All he wanted was a final moment to ask Steve what was happening. Why he had betrayed the corporation. 

Betrayed him. 

He wasn’t even actually aware that he was just sitting in the cafeteria by himself until there was a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and blinked, realizing that it was simply just Skadj standing above him. 

“Hey,” Apollo whispered, and Skadj sat down next to him. 

“You look like you need a hug,” he said and Apollo just nodded, letting himself be pulled close and into the safety of his best friend. “My dad told me what happened. You ok?” 

“Fine,” Apollo lied, but as always Skadj knew when he was lying. It was the downside to being best friends. 

“You can lie to me all you want,” that’s where the sentence ended, and Apollo just turned to press his face into Skadj’s neck. “It’s all gonna be ok,” Skadj promised and Apollo was just gonna return to his mind but his best friend had other ideas. “Hey,” 

“Hmm,” Apollo hummed softly and looked up at him. Skadj pressed their foreheads together, and they stared like that for a little bit until Apollo felt like his mind was back to normal and wasn’t trying to take over. 

“You good now?” Skadj asked ever so softly. Apollo was, he felt like he could think again.

“Yeah,” he whispered, a small smile forming on his face. “Thanks,” 

“I will always be able to read you Dumbdog, that’s the perk of being your best friend,” Skadj told him before leaning back. Apollo stood up and Skadj smiled at him. “You know where to find me if you need me,” 

Apollo thanked him before walking away. He took a small breath before heading to find Hafu, he had training to complete after all. 

Chapter Text

It had been two months since Steve had destroyed the Skeld. And most of the crewfu had been dispersed amongst other ships. Apollo had thankfully stayed on the Airship, alongside him was Koji and Ellum. 

He wasn’t fully aware of where all the other members had gone, but right now his commander training took place under Chilled. Which was fine, Chilled was a lot more laid back than Hafu was. And that was amazing. 

But right now things were a little more serious, as he was on planet Polus and was currently taking on a small group that worked under xQc. That much was obvious by the brand that was on their upper right chests. But when a familiar red suit hit him from behind and he managed to see through the clear visor. 

The most familiar brown eyes stared right back at him, and he froze. A detrimental thing at that very moment. 

A sharp prick in his neck and he was done for. 

Waking up was not fun, especially being strapped to a table that kept hybrid strength at bay. Apollo tugged at the restraints, they cuffed both his hands and legs down with a collar around his neck that kept his head on the table. He needed to find a way out and fast, but his heart was forced to stop for a moment when the door opened. 

Steve stepped in, looking so scarily serious that it honestly scared him. He tugged at the metal some more but nothing came of it. Steve walked over and hovered over him for a moment, looking at him. 

“How could you? I trusted you!” Apollo finally spat at him, anger taking over his fear for a moment. He just couldn’t believe what was going on. Steve didn’t even seem to pause, instead remaining silent. “At least say something!” Apollo begged, just wanting to hear Steve reassure him and tell him that it was all ok. 

But nothing was ever said, and instead Steve reached to a table that Apollo couldn’t see and Apollo felt himself be muzzled. It strapped around his head with little effort, and covered both his nose and mouth. 

From there everything seemed to blur together. He couldn’t scream, or cry, or beg Steve to just be his Steve again. He knew he was bleeding a lot, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Electricity caused his muscles to spasm. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks. 

Eventually he was given a break, and he wasn’t even sure how long that was before Steve showed back up to do it again. This went on for a few days, constant torture by Steve and him passing out during different sessions. He knew at some point he passed out again, and when he woke up again he was alone. 

He tried to get his bearings back, which wasn’t all that easy. He was still strapped down and muzzled, and he didn’t even want to look at how bad he was hurt. He could slightly turn his head to the side and saw an IV sticking out of his hand. 

So they did want to keep him alive enough to keep doing this. 

What hurt the most was that it was Steve doing this. If it was xQc he could understand, the man hated him for escaping the toxicity with 5up. But Steve? His Steve? So willing to hurt him for what reason? Because xQc told him to? 

He was pretty sure that if he was being asked any questions then he would’ve already spilled anything to make it stop. 

He was disappointed in himself because of it, how could he expect to be a commander when this was too much for him? How could he stay in the corporation after all of this? 

He closed his eyes, there wasn’t a good way out of this situation. His watch that connected him to Team Unity was gone, and he was kinda on his own. 

“Oh puppy,” a soft voice said, fingers gently tracing over his face. He knew that voice, it was Steve. “Whatever am I going to do with you?” Dumbdog refused to move, refused to let Steve know he was awake in case it started more torture up. 

What was Steve even doing in the room?

“I can’t believe you were dumb enough to get caught. I can’t believe you ended up here,” ouch, that hurt. “But what was I to expect?” Silence overtook everything and the door sounded like it was opening. Apollo hoped that was Steve leaving, but he still refused to open his eyes. 

His restraints unlocked, and Apollo wondered what in the world was going on. He was picked up by a pair of shockingly strong arms, and he cracked open his eyes to see a brown space suit. 

It was Junkyard. 

His muzzle was still on, but he was carried through the halls and onto a dropship where he was set down gently on the cold metal floor. His head rested on someone's lap and he felt the dropship launch. 

“We’ve got you Apollo,” The steady voice belonged to the very commanding officer, and he opened his eyes weakly. Skadj was leaning over him, a focused look on his face. Apollo could tell he was trying to get the muzzle off, so he didn’t do anything to fight against him. 

Junk and Courtilly seemed to be giving him some form of medical evaluation, and all he could do was lay there and let them do whatever. He could hear an extra heartbeat that he knew belonged to Kara, so he knew who was flying the ship. 

“Hey Dumbdog,” Skadj whispered to him upon noticing his eyes were open. “You’re safe, I promise,” Apollo gave a small nod despite how much his body protested any sort of movement. 

There was a loud clicking sound that caused his body to jolt and him to jump, but Skadj pulled the muzzle off of his face. Apollo let out a sigh of relief, going limp once again and passing out. 

Chapter Text

Apollo spent the next few weeks recovering from what Steve did to him. But he kept pushing back his training that he was supposed to pick back up. Koji and Ellum kept trying to support him, but he was so hesitant. 

“I can’t do this,” Apollo finally whispered to Koji and Ellum. They were sitting in the bunkhouse and Koji looked confused. 

“What do you mean?” Koji asked and Apollo stood up. 

“This, all of this,” Apollo felt his voice crack. All he wanted was to go back to earth, to curl up in his house and never move again. Well, in reality it would be Dan's house for a bit but whatever. “I want to quit. I want to go back to earth-“ 

“Woah, woah woah,” Ellum stopped him from leaving the room. “Dumbdog, can you give us a day before you make any rash decisions?” Ellum asked and Apollo hesitated. He wanted to quit right now, walk out and find Chilled, talk to Toast. But he had some sort of respect for Ellum and Koji. 

“Fine,” he muttered. Koji and Ellum both looked at each other and then Koji left the room. Apollo just laid down on his bed and decided not to move for the rest of the day. 

He was pretty sure it wasn’t even a full twenty four hours later before Hafu was storming into the room and Apollo was faced with an angry yellow commander. 

“Quit?!” She didn’t even greet him before she was pacing back and forth. Apollo sat up and watched her with wide eyes. “Of all the ridiculous, stupid, moronic ideas you’ve ever had!” 

“Hafu?” He asked and she paused and looked at him. 

“What in the world has compelled you to think that? You are a commander in-“ 

“I don’t think I should be a commander,” he cut her off softly and she paused, face changing to a softer look. She sat down next to him and grabbed both his hands. 

“Tell me why,” 

So he did. He explained why he couldn’t imagine himself being a commander after everything that happened and all the things that had been going through his head while being hurt. 

“Oh Apollo,” she whispered. “How about this, you put your commander training on hold and go back to the NLSS for a bit?” She asked and Apollo was hesitant. “Talk to Ryan and Malf, plus Dan. They always have your best interest at heart,” he nodded slowly, he could do that for her. For them. 

For Steve.

No, not for Steve. Steve was the one who killed his confidence. 

He ended up moving back to the NLSS ship under Ryan, and upon arriving with Hafu by his side he was almost relieved to be pulled into an immediate hug by Dan. He almost went limp. 

He could tell by the amount of noise in the room that there were very few people in there. 

“Come on now,” Dan whispered to him and Apollo was brought to the admin office, where both Ryan and Malf were waiting. Immediately he was pulled into a small group hug with all of them and he just waited there. 

“Tell us what’s going on,” Malf spoke softly as they all stepped apart. “Out of all of us, you were the one least likely to quit,” 

“I…” Apollo felt his words catch in his throat, he felt embarrassed that he wanted to quit. All because of what Steve did to him. When what? Ryan had been through torture before, Dan had too. They didn’t quit, why was he wanting to so badly?

“Apollo, there’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Ryan prompted him and Apollo shook his head, ears going back and tail tucking. “We just want to know the reason,” 

“I feel like a failure,” he finally managed to get out, letting Dan pull him into another hug. “I got caught, and then I was hurt, and if there was anything they had wanted from me then I would’ve given in to make it stop. I could’ve put everybody in danger,” Apollos voice cracked at the end. 

“It’s ok kid,” Dan whispered and Apollo looked at him, untrusting. Because Dan had left after being caught and tortured. “We all get it. And it’s not like this is your first time being tortured. What changed?”

“Last time was different. Last time I fought and I failed. This time I froze when I saw Steve. I would’ve broken because it was Steve,” 

“Steve turned?” Malf asked, looking almost shocked. Apollo nodded, unsure of how much these guys actually know. 

“Shocker,” Dan sounded sarcastic and Apollo closed his eyes. “How about this, if you stay here for a while then so will I,” 

“But you’re retired,” 

“And some things are more important than that. Besides that, I’ve missed being up here,” Dan told him softly and Apollo nodded slightly. “Come on, hush puppy. Let's go take a break,” Dumbdog wasn’t able to really argue so he was brought to his room and he just curled up on the bed. 

Some movie was turned on and Apollo remembered way back when, before Team Unity became void and before Dan retired, when they used to lay there and watch random movies or spar with each other, or even just mess around. It was a better time, a more simple time, a time he hadn’t realized he had missed so much. 

“Hey,” Malf snapped his fingers in front of Apollo's face and he blinked at him. “Don’t think so much. Just focus on the movie, or us,” 

“Sorry,” He muttered and let himself go limp against Ryans side. The commanding officer scratched his ears so Apollo didn’t offer much argument. He wondered what would happen if he just went back to being a crewmate. If he was just able to stay here for the rest of his life and if Dan came out of retirement. Deep down he knew it wasn’t going to happen and that he would eventually answer the call of his heart and go back to the Skeld. 

When it was eventually rebuilt, that is. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was curled up with Dan and Malf in his room. He had been on the NLSS ship for a while, and there was always someone with him. Most commonly Dan, Ryan. or Malf. He wasn’t that shocked because they were always worried he was gonna try to off himself or something but he wasn’t that bad. 

Usually. 

He closed his eyes, head in Malfs lap. He wasn’t really planning on moving. He had done a little bit of work on the ship, but he really hadn’t had the energy to even get out of bed. 

“What’s Ryan up to?” He heard Malf ask, and he wondered that too but he also knew that Ryan could just be busy. Despite how unserious he was, he actually had work to get done with. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if he was doing it. 

“I don’t know. Doing Ryan things,” Dan answered and Apollo just hoped he would fall asleep. Falling asleep was a great escape about one fourth of the time. The other three quarters of sleep made him relive what happened to him. He was hoping that maybe this time he would get good sleep, though knowing his shit luck he would end up in a nightmare that would send him spiraling for a few hours after waking up. 

“You trying to sleep there?” Dan asked and Apollo cracked his eyes open briefly before closing them again and returning to darkness. 

“Yeah,” He muttered, hoping that maybe they would leave him alone. He hadn’t slept well the night before, and had spent the previous days so lost in his head that he physically didn’t move until he was forced to shift. 

His door opened and he heard two heartbeats entering the room. His eyes opened when he sat up because he knew Ryan was one of them but the second one was the one person he hadn’t fully expected. 

Why was he here? Part of him couldn’t believe Ryan would bring him here, let him on the ship so willingly and much less bring him to his room. 

It seemed like the other two members of Unity agreed with him because Dan moved from Apollo's side and reached for his weapon until Ryan stepped in front of the man. Apollo only saw the back of Dan but he could only imagine the look Ryan was receiving. 

“Easy Daniel,” Ryan said as he closed the door behind him and Steve. Apollo briefly met Steve’s eyes before looking away. 

“Really? I don’t care what his job is. He can’t just-” Dan started to argue but he was cut off when a calming voice spoke. 

“Dan,” Malf said softly. Dan looked over at Malf and Apollo wasn’t quite sure what was happening but Ryan whispered something in Steve’s ear. Steve nodded and then the other three members of Team Unity walked out the door. 

Apollo tensed, staring at the ground and refusing to even look in Steve’s direction. All of a sudden all he could think about was the muzzle on his face and the pain his body had been put into. 

“Dumbdog?” Steve sat down on the bed next to him, and Apollo unwillingly flinched away. He saw Steve’s horrified face and wondered why he was even here. 

“What Steve? What do you want? Why are you here?” He asked and finally looked over at the so-called commanding officer. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve said and Apollo shook his head as tears filled his eyes. 

“Do you really think a sorry makes it better?” Apollo asked him and his ears pinned back. “You better have a damn good reason for what you did to me,” 

“I know,” 

“I don’t really want to hear you out, but Ryan trusts you. So, I will,” 

“I know,” Apollo looked back down to his feet, waiting to see what Steve had to say. “I was sent undercover. That’s the reason I blew up the Skeld. Toast had me and DK set it all up. I was sent to take down xQc,” 

“Did you do it?”

“Yeah. It’s done and he’s going away to the highest lockdown place possible,” Apollo nodded, he knew the place. “But when I go undercover, I have to commit to whatever role I have to. Or else I risk everything going wrong. You understand that, right?” 

“I understand,” Apollo whispered, still refusing to look at Steve.

“So then why won’t you look at me?” Steve asked and Apollo kept his eyes on the ground. “Dumbdog?” 

“I said I understand, I didn’t say that it made anything any easier,” Apollo said but he did look at Steve. The familiar brown eyes stared back at him, and he wanted to melt and just pull Steve right to him at that very moment. He refrained though. 

“So…why’d you end up back here?” Steve seemed hesitant to even ask the question, and Apollo was quiet as he debated on telling Steve the truth. “Please, Apollo. Just tell me,” 

“I couldn’t do it. Had that been a situation where they were looking for information, they would’ve gotten the information,” Apollo said and for a moment Steve’s face was unreadable. “I would’ve put everyone in danger just to make the pain stop,” 

“That’s dumb,” Steve said and Apollo's ears pinned back in defensiveness. “Not like that. The fact that you were going to quit your training. Why? Because you got scared?”

“Hey-”

“Grow up. Commander's make mistakes, things happen, and shit goes wrong,” Steve said. “Come on, we’re going back to the Skeld. You’re going to pick back up your training. And you will become a commander,” 

“But-”

“You are so close, Apollo. A few more months and you’ll be a commander. Ok?” Steve asked and Apollo nodded because he was really close. He was so close and why was he planning on just giving all this up? 

“Ok, let’s go back to the Skeld,” He whispered, taking Steve’s hand and heading back to the ship he had come from. 

I’m 

Chapter Text

Upon Apollo and Steve getting back to the Skeld, everyone seemed really happy to have them. He knew he was so close to becoming a commander, and part of him wondered what was going to happen when he eventually became a commander. 

What was Steve’s plan to keep him on the ship? 

He was also making a lot of decisions on the ship, ones that usually Hafu made but since he was the one in training he was being forced to make those decisions. Sometimes they were easy, but a lot of the time they made him have to think fast and create a solution. 

“You’ve got to be close,” Skadj was telling him one day. “You have what? The test left?” Apollo looked at him and thought for a moment, then he realized that Skadj was right. 

“Holy shit, I think so,” 

“What do you think’s gonna happen?” Apollo wasn’t going to explain what Steve had told him so long ago. “What type of crew do you think you’re gonna run?”

“I don’t know. I’d like an exploration crew, honestly I’d like to stay on this ship,” 

“Yeah, but unless Hafu retires or takes a new position then I don’t think it’s going to happen. What about a quad, like Team Unity used to do,”

“A suicude squad? You crazy?”

“Just a thought,” Skadj told him with a small shrug. “And Ryan isn’t planning on stepping down anytime soon so I doubt you get the NLSS,” 

“I guess it all depends on what’s available and what Toast says,” Apollo told him and Skadj nodded. 

A few weeks later Apollo was taking his test, which required him to take a crew of crewmates he barely knew and had never met on a mission.

Things didn’t seem like they were going to go right for him, and he wasn’t totally wrong but hey, the mission was a success and he came back with all the crewmates. Toast then told him he would contact Hafu with the results in a few days, and that seemed like it would take forever. 

What followed that was a long week of waiting, and Apollo couldn’t help but be super anxious about it the entire time. 

“You think you passed?” Koji asked as they played a game of battleship. Well, Apollo and Ellum played a game of battleship that Ellum was losing horribly. Koji was watching and making commentary.

“I hope so,” Apollo said. “It would suck if I did all of this just to fail,”

“I mean Wolfabelle passed her test, and you both trained under Hafu,” Ellum pointed out and Apollo shrugged. 

“D6,” He said, and marked it when Ellum said hit. “I mean, I guess so. But tests are all  different. I think Toast tailors them to things that would be hard for each different person,” 

“Well, yeah. But you’re Dumbdog,” Koji said as Ellum made an attempt to hit Apollo's ship and missed by one square. “You can do anything, this should’ve been easy,” 

“Well sure except that there was so much disunity in that crew. I don’t even know where those guys all work but I feel bad for their commander,” 

“They probably all come from different crews,” Koji pointed out as Apollo sank one of Ellums ships. 

One day Hafu called a meeting and Apollo waited in the cafeteria as everyone made their way in. Confusion covered faces and Apollo had to admit he was confused as well. Hafu wore a smile while talking to Steve, DK and 5up. 

“Hello!” She said when everyone was quiet. “I have a pretty big announcement to make. To start us off I will be stepping down as commander of the Skeld,” 

A whisper ran through the crew, and Apollo couldn’t help but tilt his head a little bit. He was curious where she was going with this. 

“Instead I will be stepping up to a new role as officer of exploration. Me, Steve, DK and 5up will be working together on a quad so there will be times when we’ll be off ship,” Hafu explained before her eyes landed on Apollo. “On another level of news, you all know that Apollo has taken his test and we’ve been waiting anxiously for the results,” 

The world froze, and Apollo bit his lip. 

“Well, I spoke to Toast a few minutes ago and he gave me the results. Apollo has passed with one of the highest results that any commander has ever gotten. After his ceremony he will take control of the Skeld as your new commander,” 

The room erupted, and Apollo barely had time to wonder what Steve might’ve had to do with any of this. He was thrown into a whirlwind of congratulations that had his head spinning slightly. 

After what felt like way too much of a party, he ended up in his bedroom with Steve. Apollo was laying on his back and Steve was straddling him, sitting on his stomach. Apollo didn’t care, he had done it. 

“I told you, I have you covered,” Steve said, reaching up slightly and scratching at Apollo's ears in just the right way to make him melt. “You aren’t going anywhere,” 

“I wondered if you had something to do with it,” Apollo reached up, grabbing Steve's shoulders and pulling him down. Suddenly, not for the first time, they were nose to nose and Apollo had to dig inside himself to keep himself from kissing Steve then and there. 

“Thank you,” He whispered and Steve sat up a little bit again. 

“If you really want to thank me, I can give you a way,” Steve winked and wiggled his eyebrows. Apollo made a disgusted face and shoved Steve off of him. The commanding officer laughed and rolled onto the open area of the bed next to him. “But seriously, you’re welcome,” 

“I can’t believe that in a week, I’ll be a certified commander,” Apollo breathed out and Steve only let out a small laugh. 

This was it, he was going to become a commander. 

Chapter Text

Apollo stood on a stage, in front of thousands of people. He wore his regular space suit, but for whatever reason he felt like everything was so much more professional than it normally did. Next to him stood Hafu, who placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. On his other side was Toast, who was talking to the crowd. Apollo was glad he wouldn’t have to say anything, he was pretty sure he would throw up. 

In the front rows he saw the three of the four commanding officers, all the regular officers, commanders, his crew, the NLSS and a bunch of other crews. The fourth commanding officer wasn’t there, having gone on a last minute mission. 

He promised he would be here, and that might’ve been the worst part about it all. Apollo glanced at the clock, the ceremony was almost over and soon it would transfer to being a party on Mira. 

Steve wasn’t gonna make it. 

Soon he was following Hafu and Toast off the stage and up to the actual Mira Headquarters. But never once had he seen Steve. 

The party was all too much, it was too loud, there were too many people trying to talk to him and all he wanted to do was retreat into the room he was staying in while on Mira. It didn’t happen for a few more hours, but eventually the party was over and he left. 

He felt like crying, Steve hadn’t even made it back during the party and his mission was long over. He didn’t get it, why hadn’t he shown up? Everything would’ve been so much easier had Steve just been there. 

There was a knock on his door and he really wasn’t planning on opening the door, but to his dismay it opened itself. 

“Dumbdog?” He knew that voice, so he looked up and in walked the very man who had just missed his ceremony. 

“Steve,” he said, unsure of how any of this would go. “What happened out there man? Why weren’t you there?” 

“I wanted to be,” Steve walked over and sat down next to him, holding both his hands. Apollo stared at their hands, unsure of what to do. “I really did and I’m so sorry,” 

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t have a good answer, things just kept going wrong and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it,” 

“Why’d you take the mission? Toast said that it could wait,”

“Because I’ve done thousands of missions like that before. So many missions like that, I guess the one time I needed to make it quick everything in the world kept disagreeing with me,” Steve was silent for a moment. “I really am sorry, Apollo,”

“All I wanted was you to be there for me today. And you weren’t. I guess you just didn’t care enough,” Apollo told him and Steve looked like he was going to say something but his comm must’ve gone off. 

“I’ll talk to you later,” Steve stood up and walked away. Apollo waited for a while before he stood up and walked to talk to someone else. 

He found the room Team Unity was in and walked in, sitting down on the chair in there. The other three looked at him. 

“Am I wrong to be upset?” Apollo asked after explaining everything. “He wasn’t there and I wanted him there. I get things going wrong and whatever, but with what today was…” 

“Apollo,” Ryan started and seemed to think about what to say for a moment. “I was not the one to tell you any of this,”

“Ryan-” Malf started to say and he sounded like he was giving a warning. 

“No Malf. I have to,” Apollo looked confused but he nodded to Ryan. “Have you realized that Steve cares more about you than anything else in the world?”

“What do you mean?” He tilted his head, looking confused. 

“Dude, Steve has manipulated everything to get you to where you are. He convinced you to leave the NLSS. He convinced you to be a commander. He swayed Toast into giving Hafu a promotion that he didn’t want to open up,” Ryan said. “All for one fucking reason,” 

“What reason?” Apollo was hesitant to ask. 

“Because from the moment he met you the day we rescued him, he’s been hopelessly in love with you,” 

“What?” Apollo felt shell shocked. 

“And honestly, he is probably the best person you could be with,” Ryan never liked anybody Apollo dated, so when he said that it seemed to click so many things in his brain all at once. 

“I need to talk to him,” Apollo breathed out. 

“I’d hurry, Toast is about to send the Core 4 on a mission,” Apollo all but launched himself out of the room and through the halls. He saw Hafu, 5up and DK getting on a dropship with some supplies. He saw Steve about to follow. 

“Steve!” he called and the commanding officer turned to face him. Apollo made it over to him and stopped moving, trying to catch his breath. “Can we talk?” 

“Can this wait? I have a mission-”

“It’ll be quick. I promise,” Apollo said and Steve nodded. Apollo led him into a side room where he didn’t need to worry about the others listening in on whatever was about to come out of his mouth. 

Steve turned to face him and crossed his arms. “What?”

“I’m in love with you,” 

“What?” Steve seemed taken aback. 

“And I know you like me too and I know this isn’t a good time and I don’t have anything planned on what to say-” Apollo was cut off by warm lips on his. He melted into the kiss, tugging Steve closer to him. Sadly, Steve broke the kiss. 

“Breathe,” Steve instructed and Apollo forced himself to suck in a bunch of air. “Now do you have something you want to ask me?”

“You’re such an asshole, but yes,” Apollo said, letting out a soft laugh. “Will you be my boyfriend?” 

“Yes. and as much as I would love to stay in this moment forever…” Steve trailed off and Apollo snapped back to reality. 

“Yeah, no. Go. I’ll uh, see you when you get back to the Skeld,” Apollo then watched as Steve walked out of the room. He remained there for a few more minutes, trying to get his heart rate to slow down. 

Chapter Text

“Steve’s supposed to be back soon,” Koji said to Apollo while they were eating breakfast one day. It had felt like an eternity since his…boyfriend left on a mission with the Core 4 and he couldn’t be more excited about getting to see him again.  

“I know. And I’m sure he’s gonna try to play dumb or something and make me probably ask him out again,” Apollo said as he rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t contain the smallest smile that crossed his face. 

He could think of worse things than asking out his boyfriend again.

“You excited?” Koji asked and Apollo nodded. The past month had been really hard, all he wanted was Steve with him. He wanted to see how their new relationship would work and change their preexisting friendship. 

“Of course. It’s Steve,” Apollo responded, because they had had zero contact with the quad that had left and all he wanted was to hear his boyfriend's voice. Things up on the Skeld had been a little stressful, and as much as he tried to make sure to take care of himself sometimes it slipped his mind. Steve would’ve made sure he took care of himself. 

“I’m sure he’ll be just as happy to see you too,”

“Uh huh. And what about you and DK?” Kojis face went a brilliant shade of red that caused Apollo to break into laughter. 

“We aren’t. We never. He isn’t,” Koji seemed lost for words and Apollo got himself to stop laughing enough to finally speak. 

“Koji, it’s fine if you like him. I have it on good authority that he likes you too,” Koji seemed to perk up at those words, eyes widening and looking like a child on christmas morning. It was almost pathetic. 

“He does?”

“Well duh. That man is head over heels for you, he’s just kinda a coward about asking you out,”

“Well I’m not going to ask him out,” Koji said, looking almost offended at the thought. Apollo rolled his eyes, sure he was the dumb dog, but this guy was just stupid. 

“Why? You think he’s gonna say no?” Apollo teased and Koji stuck his tongue out. “I’m just saying,” 

“Whatever. What me and DK do or are is none of your business,” Koji seemed like he was trying to save himself, but Apollo was an asshole and he had long since accepted this about himself so he would shove Koji further under the water. 

“It is when you two practically flaunt it about the ship. Jeez, you two are worse than Platy and Chilled,” Apollo said. 

“Impossible,” Kara said as she walked past them. 

“Ignore her. You and DK are way worse than Platy and Chilled were before they got together,” 

“Shut up,” 

“Make me,” Apollo said as he stood up. He had a little bit of work to do, so he left Koji sitting in the cafeteria by himself. 

It was some basic commander work, which led him to talking to Chilled for a short period of time about possibly sending a second in command for temporary measures. As Apollo had realized he didn’t have an actual second in command. 

He had two officers and three commanding officers but if all of those were off the ship then he might’ve been in a little bit of trouble because there wasn’t really a natural command if something happened to him. It would just be whoever stepped up. Of course Chilled was an asshole and refused because the one second registered to be able to be on the Skeld was Platy and Chilled wasn’t gonna let his boyfriend leave. 

Apollo really couldn’t blame him there. 

So he would just temporarily risk Junk leaving and there being no backup if something happened to him. But whatever, that was all easy to deal with. Plus Steve was gonne be back soon, and that’s all he fucking wanted. 

He worked for way longer than he was planning on working, which naturally led Koji to peeking in and checking on him. Maybe he should convince Koji to actually become his second in command. With a guilty smile, Apollo turned off his stuff and decided it was time for him to go to sleep. 

He was laying in bed that night, about to actually go to sleep when his tablet went off with a call. It was from Ryan, so he did what any person would do and debated on declining the call. But he knew his old commander wouldn’t call without a good reason so he grabbed it and answered. 

“Hello?” He asked, yawning a little bit. Ryan was standing in his admin office, face looking pretty grim. “What’s wrong?” 

“I have some bad news for you kid,” Ryan said and Apollo's heart stopped. Please don’t be what he thought it was. “Kid…”

“Is it what I think it is?” A nod. “What happened?”

“They were on a new planet and they found a group of what we suspect were juggernauts. None of the four survived,” Apollo felt his world freeze. “I’m so sorry Apollo. If you need anything you know how to reach us,” He nodded, he was numb. 

He really didn’t know how long he was in there before he heard his door open. Warm arms pulled him into a tight embrace and onto a lap. He tucked his face into the neck of who he realized was Junkyard. 

“Ryan called,” That was the only explanation he needed as to why Junk had come into the room. “I’m so sorry,” Apollo let himself start to cry. 

This was all so unfair, all of it. He had just gotten the guy of his dreams only to have him taken away from him. Junk was talking to him softly but he didn’t hear the words at all, he was too lost in his own fucking head. 

Once again the universe took away the only thing he loved, the thing he wanted the most in the world was gone.

Maybe he just wasn’t meant to be happy.