Chapter Text
Charles sat down in his chair, looking over at the corkboard in front of him. It was covered in blurry photos, coordinates messily scrawled on scraps of paper, a variety of legal documents, and many other miscellaneous objects, ranging from blueprints of the Toppat Clan's orbital station to sandwich bags of evidence. They were all attached to the corkboard with small black pins, certain pins attached to each other with pieces of red string, making it resemble one of those evidence boards pictured in detective movies.
The subject of it all was Henry Stickmin, the leader of the dreaded Toppat Clan. Charles had been very vigilant on his missions against the Toppats, gathering whatever evidence he could to try and pinpoint where they were going to strike next.
Many other soldiers had noted how single mindedly focused he was on taking down the Toppats, or more specifically, on taking down and capturing Henry. And the reason behind it was quite obvious. He was there when Henry betrayed the government and sided with the Toppats, being straight up stabbed in the chest probably would have hurt less. Ever since that day, Charles had sworn that he would get his revenge.
Or at least, that's what he told everyone.
There was another reason, deep within him, that he would personally take to his grave. During that airship mission, Henry had managed to not only break into the airship, nearly kill a guy, and ditch the government at the last second so he could join the Toppats, he also stole Charles' heart for good measure. And even now, long after Henry had betrayed him and broke his heart into a million pieces, Charles struggled to think of him as anything other than the mysterious, stoic, handsome, and misunderstood thief he met back during that mission. He still believed that there could be hope for him. That with the right amount of persuasion, they could convince him to give up being a criminal and start fighting for the right side.
But he wasn't going to tell anyone about any of that. If he did, he would definitely have to kiss his position of the government's greatest pilot goodbye. Sure, while Galeforce and many of the other army members were accepting of him being gay, and anyone who dared to oppose Galeforce when it came to that decision would wish that they died on the battlefield, but being gay for a criminal? A criminal that happened to be leader of the most dangerous criminal organization ever, no less? Yeah, they weren't going to show him any respect for that one.
He walked over to his desk, looking at his schedule for the day. It was mostly the same, except for a mission against the Toppats, were he was going to be on foot. Typically, he would be stuck up in a helicopter during missions like these, but being part of the action would be a nice change of pace. However, since he was only really brought in for the more dangerous Toppat missions, it was highly likely that the leader would be there as well.
Being in the closet for most of his life, Charles was used to hiding his own emotions, especially when it came to romantic desire. But that didn't mean that he ever enjoyed it. Now he was quite used to wearing his heart on his sleeve, known for being quite excitable and overly cheery compared to some of the other pilot's at his level.
But, he'd do it for the sake of the mission. He couldn't let the Toppats get the upper hand.
~
Henry longingly gazed out the large window in front of him, watching the planet he used to call home as it sat amongst the stars. He missed Earth, like many of the other Toppats aboard the Orbital Station. Many on board missed their homes, their families, the wonderful sights back on Earth. But Henry didn't have a family, or a home to go back to. And sure, the Earth had some pretty sights, but that wasn't the main thing he missed about it. That reason being one that he never told anyone, and likely never will.
That reason being Charles Calvin.
Now, if he told anyone about this, they probably wouldn't understand. They really only interacted once, in the mission where he was brought to take down the Toppats, but ended up joining them instead. And yes, while that was true, it also wasn't at the same time. They only interacted once before, in this timeline, timeline being the key word here.
There where other worlds he could see, ones where he was able to befriend the pilot, by joining the government's side. Those timelines were some of the best, being an actual redeemable person with one of the best people in the whole world by his side. The two had a practically unbreakable bond, an impeccable friendship that could span the ages, and in some timelines, maybe even more than that.
Although there was that one timeline with Charles in it...that he'd prefer not to remember.
The feeling was agonizing, of wanting something but not being able to have it. Usually when he wanted something, he would be able to go out there and steal it. But this was a different case. Charles likely despised him now for siding with the Toppats, there's no way in hell that he'd want to be with him now. Henry thought that maybe if he was in space and Charles wasn't, it would be easier to forget him. But as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. And when that distance was so great that they didn't even share the same planet, his heart grew more fond then he even thought it could be for a person.
"I miss you." Henry said, touching his gloved fingers to the cold, smooth glass. Charles probably didn't miss him back.
"Hey boss, do you need anything?" Someone asked as they walked into Henry's office. Henry immediately recognized the voice as his trusted Right Hand Lady, Ellie Rose, who helped him break out of the Wall oh so long ago.
"No, I'm alright." Henry stated, sitting back down at his desk.
"Your track record of stoically staring out the window tells me otherwise. This is what, the 26th time I caught you doing this?" Ellie stated, while Henry looked away guiltily. Maybe this longing for Charles thing was starting to take a toll on him.
"You miss Earth, don't you?" Ellie asked. Henry nodded in return, still avoiding eye contact. Although, more accurately, he was missing the unconditional love and support of a certain government pilot, but Earth works as well.
"Well then, do I have some good news for you!" Ellie stated. "We've been planning a raid on this casino for a while now, prime target, and recently, they added a few large, overpriced gems to their décor, and there's a collection of oversized gems in the vault that telling me that that's kinda your thing."
Henry's eyes lit up, finally facing Ellie's. Not just at the idea of going back to Earth, but for another reason entirely. If this was such a dangerous mission, that means that the government would likely try to intercept them. And if the government was there, there would be a high likelihood of Charles being there as well.
And he wasn't passing up an opportunity to see Charles again.
"I'm in." Henry answered.
"I knew that you would be all for it." Ellie said, as she walked out the office, leaving Henry alone.
Henry glanced out the window, admiring the beautiful blue and green planet.
He will be looking forward to this.