Title: Free Falling
Author: Kristi Brownfield ([email protected])
Website: http://www.koanju.com
Rating: PG-13
Pairing / Main characters: Korso/Sam Tucker
Series/Sequel: complete
Summary: Mildly slashy story giving a bit of Korso's past.
Disclaimer: Charcters aren't mine. No copyright infringement intended.
Date: Jul 2000
Notes: Er, don't ask. I'm not quite sure where this came from either. ;;^^ This fic (duh) is slightly shounen ai, and has -HUGE- spoilers for the movie. So, if you haven't seen the movie, and don't want to be spoiled - DON'T READ THE FIC!
Yeah, I went out and bought the novelization. So, some of the things, like Korso's first name, and Cale's last name came straight out of the novel. Some of the dialogue too - but mostly 'cause I wouldn't have a chance to check the dialogue against the movie until Wednesday. ^_-
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Free Falling
By Kristi Brownfield
"You can let go, kid. I wouldn't blame you," I told him quietly.
I couldn't believe what the kid was doing. Me, Joseph Korso was being saved by Sam Tucker's son. Damnit, Sam, what the hell happened to me - to us? I stared up into Cale's blue eyes as his grip tightened, and felt a curious doubling. Sam's blue eyes stared back at me through his son. I forgot the danger of falling by staring into those determined eyes.
-FLASH-
"They're getting closer, Korso." Sam turned and stared at me. "We have to speed up production of the Titan project."
I looked at the man across from me, the man who dove head first into everything he did. The man who woke the few maternal instincts I had because he needed a keeper. The man who potentially could save humanity from the Drej. The man who had wild hair, and dark circles under his eyes. Sam had been working days and nights without sleep again. I briefly wondered if he had been spending much time with Cale recently. Probably not.
"Sam, you can't save the human race from the Drej if you kill yourself while working on the project," I told him with a half smile.
He stared back on me. "Korso, I won't kill myself! There just isn't enough time to waste!"
I sighed, and decided to try another tack. A foolproof plan. "Sam, how much time have you spent with your kid?"
A guilty expression immediately surfaced on his face, but quickly disappeared. "Cale understands."
I snorted. "Sam, the kid is five years old. He doesn't understand. All he knows is that Dad isn't there anymore for him to play with." I tried to throw the weight of experience behind my words. Sam heard the ring of truth and nodded in reply. I watched his shoulders slump.
I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. "Sam. Go home. Read your kid a story. Then go to bed."
Sam's face turned into a shit-eating grin at my words. I snorted in the face of his smirk. I knew what he was thinking, and still had trouble understanding the man's odd sense of timing. "Will you be joining me, then?"
I felt my smile turn slightly wistful. Even though Sam could be spared for a night of rest, I couldn't be. Too much to do. "Sam, go home. Go to bed. Go to sleep! Only then will we talk about... " I cleared my throat so he couldn't mistake my meaning. "Other arrangements."
He nodded, and I watched him trot off with a smile on his face.
-FLASH-
"No." The kid grunted the words, fighting both his own tired body and the extra weight I brought. I felt his grip slip. "I'm. Not. Going. To. Let. Go..."
Ah, hell Sam. I wish you could see him. You'd be so damn proud you'd burst. Such a difference from the "charmer" I met on Tau-14. Akima changed him. This whole trip changed him. Just the way you changed me. The kid isn't really a kid.
-FLASH-
I watched the Titan blast off, carrying the most precious cargo in the universe. Sam Tucker. "Now, it's my turn," I mumbled, getting my small craft into action. I needed to hustle if I wanted to keep pace with the Titan. Blasting it into space was damned slow, but someone Sam had designed the ship so that it nearly moved at the speed of light while in space.
"C'mon, hurry up!" I punched the console of the _Valiant_ in annoyance.
"Finally." I blasted off, and did my best to keep the fucking Drej off Sam's back. After all, what else are friends for?
"Thanks for the backup, Joseph." Sam's voice came in over the communication. I worried when I heard him. He only called me by my first name when there was serious trouble. What the hell was going on over on the Titan.
"Sam!" I shouted through the communications. No answer. Nothing, I couldn't hail him back. I cursed loudly and in as many different languages as I knew, and tried to destroy as many Drej ships as I could.
"What the hell?" I muttered. The ships were backing up, and away from the planet. "Oh shit." The mothership, the ship with the Drej Queen was preparing to fire it's main gun.
Right at Earth.
And then it was done. Earth exploded. Destroyed. Demolished. And Sam was about to leave for the ends of the Universe. Shit.
"KORSO!" I heard Sam's scream through the communications. And then the sound of gunfire. Drej must have made it onto the ship.
Earth was dead. And now Earth's last hope was probably dead. I closed my eyes and set out to find the kid. Cale Tucker was the only thing we had left. Except hope, although I knew that hope wouldn't last forever.
-FLASH-
The kid's grip was almost gone. I knew that my end was coming. And I still hadn't said good-bye to Sam. Or destroyed the fucking Drej. I almost thought the kid might be able to do it. Cale is more like his father than he wants to miss.
"KORSO!" the kid shouted.
I felt myself falling.
Sam, looks like I'll be seeing you soon.
END