“So, I heard he’s going home today,” Newt tossed James the football.

Using a bit more force than needed, James threw it back. “Yeah.”

Newt caught the spiraling ball, and hissed as it slammed home. Shaking his hands one by one he glared at James. “And you’re okay with this?”

“Do I look okay?” James growled.

“No. You look like a bear with a thorn in his paw.”

That was a fairly accurate description of how he felt. He was grumpy, but he was also in pain. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Martin. Logic said Martin needed to leave. His project here was finished. His replacement had already arrived to take up the hospital construction. The only thing keeping him here was his relationship with James. That wasn’t enough.

“So, what are you going to do?” Newt released the ball, and James caught it easily.

“I’m going to see him off at the port.” James smiled. “And then I’ll see him in a month when I go for leave.”

“Really?” Newt looked stunned, and barely managed to catch the football even when James sent it perfectly toward him. “You mean you aren’t ending things?”

“No.” James couldn’t bear to just end things. He wanted to see Martin again. Parting now was going to be painful, but he knew it wasn’t goodbye.

“Well, good for you,” Newt grinned, walking across the gym to grip James’ shoulder. “I’m happy for you. It’s about time you did something for yourself.”

“You make it sound like I deprive myself of the basic needs.” James shook his friend’s hand off and headed for the new locker room. The rec-center Martin had overseen built was amazing. Everything was top of the line, but he’d also taken the soldiers’ tastes into account. It was a huge success. The only problem was, James knew every time he came into the building he’d be reminded of his lover.

“When was the last time you got laid? Before Martin,” Newt specified.

“I don’t know,” James frowned. “Maybe a month or two before he showed up.”

“I rest my case.”

“Just because you can’t go three days without fucking,” James laughed.

James wondered who Newt’s partner was. The man was too loyal to sleep with prostitutes. No, he had a single person he slept with. Despite the years he’d known the man, he had yet to work out exactly who that lover was. For a while he’d thought maybe Newt was seeing Crissy, but recent events drove that idea from his mind completely. Leaving him to wonder again.

Thinking of Crissy, she’d been distant lately. Not that he blamed her. She’d taken his actions during the explosion as a rejection. Of course, he hadn’t meant it like that. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. All he could think of was Martin and his safety. In hindsight, yeah, that was a pretty clear rejection.

“You ever going to introduce me to your lover,” James tried for probably the twentieth time to get Newt to make an introduction.

“You know him,” Newt shrugged. So he always said. The most he could gleam from that continued response was Newt’s lover was male, and James apparently knew him. That only left half the people on the base! “Why do you care so much?”

“You know who my lover is,” James provided.

“True. But as I said, you already know mine.”

“Then just give me his name.”

“Rodger.”

James frowned. He couldn’t think of anyone off the top of his head with that first name. He sure as shit couldn’t recall anyone with that surname. Maybe it was someone he didn’t know the first name of? So, a superior officer?

“Last name?” James tried, but Newt just smiled. Seemed a first name was all he was getting right now. Still, it was better than nothing.

“How long till Martin’s flight out?” Newt changed the subject.

James looked at his watch and sighed. “Two hours.”

“Why’re you with me then? Go to him and say your goodbyes!” Newt shoved him from behind, pushing James toward the civilian apartments. “Good luck!” he shouted after him after a minute.

James waved and hoped his hand wasn’t shaking as he crossed the base and came to stand in front of the large building. He could still remember the first moment he’d brought Martin here. The way the man flirted with him so shamelessly. Never would he have thought the eccentric man would come to mean so much to him.

As he stood there, the doors opened and Martin came out. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey,” James smiled. They moved at the same time, meeting in the middle. “You packed?”

“Yep,” Martin indicated the luggage he’d been wheeling behind him.

“You know, you’re not supposed to leave the apartment without me.”

“Well, to be honest this isn’t an accident.” Martin released the handle to his luggage and wrapped his arms around James’s neck. “I saw you headed this way.”

“You could’ve waited upstairs.” James returned the embrace pulling Martin close.

Martin shook his head. “No. I think it’s best if we avoid privacy at this point. I might miss my flight.”

Yeah, he had a point. Since that first time they’d come together, it was like a switch had been turned on and it was nearly impossible to turn it back off. James knew that if he’d made it up to Martin’s room and they’d touched like this, there would be no stopping. At least out here, where people could see them, they could control themselves.

“Give you a ride to the station?” James offered.

“I’d love that,” Martin smiled at him before leaning in and kissing him softly.

Their last ride across the base together, and James found himself wishing for time to slow. Or for the flight to be delayed. He didn’t want their time together to end.

They arrived at the boarding area too soon for James’ liking, and that left them standing there. The ship having already arrived but wouldn’t start boarding passengers for another hour. They spent that last hour just sitting beside each other. There was probably so much they needed to say, but neither seemed to be able to speak.

When an hour passed, the call for passengers to board rang out and Martin stood. Before James could follow, Martin leaned over and kissed him. “I’ll see you in a month.”

It wasn’t a goodbye. With that James felt a bit better about this parting. Pulling Martin back to him, he kissed him with every fiber of his being. Martin responded in kind, moaning, and pressing close. “In a month,” James whispered as he broke the kiss and released him.

Martin nodded, grabbed his luggage, and walked up the gangplank and out of James’ sight. He stood there the entire time, until after the ship had launched. One month wasn’t that long, he’d managed to fall in love in that period. Still, it suddenly felt too long.

* * *

One Month Later…

Martin looked at the time and cursed. Submitting his report, he tossed a few things into his briefcase, made sure his tablet was packed, and rushed from his new office. He went straight to the underground parking garage, checked out his car, and sped out of the building. He zipped in and out of traffic as he headed straight for the airport.

Glancing at the clock when he arrived, he smiled. He had ten minutes. Finding a parking spot took five minutes. Another minute was lost as he waited for traffic to clear so he could cross to the terminal. By the time he made it to gate fifteen he had seconds to spare. He gasped, pulling oxygen into his lungs as the arrival of flight R5-W302 from the Genus System was announced. Martin smiled, his heart fluttering as he watched people mill into the building two minutes later.

He looked about, feeling like a child at Christmas. When he spotted the military fatigues, he rushed forward. “James!” he shouted. The dark man stopped and opened his arms. Martin flung himself into his arms, and they kissed. People clapped, but they ignored them as they greeted each other. “I love you,” Martin whispered. “I missed you.”

James smiled against his lips. “I love you too.”

The End.