'Til Only Stardust Remains

"Shiver spotted off the coast, vector 200 North, 500 East." Allison stated, guiding the drone directly overhead. "Lemons," she added, "poachers OTM from the northeast, 250 knots. ETA 30 seconds and counting."

"Numbers?" Shane asked over the shared comms, voice flat.

"4 tangos, heavily armed. Unknown quantity below deck. Entering restricted area now."

"Roger that. Mac, Zen, move to flank. Zac and I will go frontal. Alli keep overwatch."

"Understood." Allison stated firmly, verifying active camo before pulling up and out of reach of the SAMs.

"Lima Charlie," Zen replied.

"We'll take the turrets so Alli can make it rain. Alright, they're close to range. Radio silence in 3, 2, 1."

Bravo team moved to execute their maneuvers, practiced and fluid. The micro-subs surfaced simultaneously, weapons hot. But they weren't the only ones.

"Reinforcements!" Alli shouted, watching in horror as four enemy micros boxed them in. How the fuck had she missed that? It was an unacceptable error that could-- and likely would --cost them the mission.

It wasn't long before Shane called it. "Mission is FUBAR!" he shouted. Alli could hear the firefight going on through his mic, "Retreat!"

Shit. Alli deployed the nanodrones to harry the subs and scramble their sonar; the enemy units were of lesser concern. She dropped in range of the SAMs to get them in close enough before they dusted; she had to throw all her flares to keep from going down.

Everyone made it out. The poachers backed off once her team was on the run: their goal wasn't casualties, it was sharks. She ascended and reactivated camo to avoid being tracked, then headed for the rally point from which she was remote piloting the drone.

They regrouped at the rally, but it was too late to salvage this mission.

"What happened? No indication of the subs on your radar?" Shane asked as soon as he was boots on the ground.

"No sir. Nada. They must have upgraded their stealth tech."

"Or you weren't paying attention. You've been distant lately," he said, smooth and calm-- she couldn't tell if he was concerned, or angry. "And drop the 'sir' shit, would you?"

"Yes si-- yes. Sorry. I can't deny the possibility. I've… there's trouble in paradise," she grumbled, finally dropping her guard.

"Understood. I'm here, if you need me."

"Get a room, lovebirds," Mac snipped.

"Watch it," Shane said, "you're already on rocky ground."

"Me?!" Mac was indignant. "She's the one that fucked up, but you're riding my ass?"

"Back the hell off or you'll get my boot in it," Shane replied.

"Yes, sir." was the answer, tone full of snark.

Shane ignored it. "Come with me, Alli," he said after a long pause. The rest of the crew was already set up and licking their wounds. "We should talk."

She nodded and followed after him, footprints trailing behind them in the golden sand.

They sat on driftwood opposite each other and switched to private comms. Meanwhile, Alli put in the effort to avoid eye contact. It wasn't easy. "That was a 20-large shiver," she said, allowing a heavy sigh to slip out.

"It's a shame," he said, "but there'll be plenty more incursions, I assure you. Plenty more sharks to save."

"I don't know about plenty," she huffed.

"That's not why I called you over, I think we should..." he trailed off.

"I know. You want me to talk about it."

"Not how I'd have worded it, but yeah."

She nodded. "Fine. Told the immediate family," she said gruffly, "they're not good with it. Nobody's good with it. It's fucked."

"I am," he said, a touch too hopeful, too caring, too emotional. "Good with it, that is. You picked a name?"

"Not yet," she replied, and now that her eyes were on him they wouldn't move away, "but I was hoping you could help me on that front."

"There's a lot I want to help you with, Al."

She blinked, held her eyes shut a might too long. "I know. It's appreciated. I want it, really."

"Then let me in," he responded-- always pushing --though it wasn't unwelcome, per se.

"In what? My heart or my home?"

"How about both?"

"Okay. Yeah. This weekend there's a family barbecue. Come with me while I out myself in front of a bunch of transphobes?"

"Absolutely. Nowhere I'd rather be. Permission to kick their asses?"

"Denied." She laughed.

"Damn." He winked, and the fading sunlight hit his eyes just so. It was entrancing.

"It'll be good to see you again," she admitted, "outside of poach-hunting, I mean."

"Sure as hell will."

The weekend arrived quickly. Alli was frantically getting everything prepared, aiming for perfection but always falling short. The one point of success was the Great White holo projected low above the area, swimming impatient circles 'round and 'round.

Shane was early, and damn, was he handsome. Red dress shirt, black pressed slacks, black shined shoes. He was really put together. Alli was stunned.

They held hands as Alli stood before the entire family, clinked a glass, and with a frown, began the process. "Hey, everyone. You know me as Alli, the little firebrand girl you raised and loved. This is Shane, by the way, and he's amazing for being here. He's amazing, period," a gesture towards him, shaky, "but anyway. I'm here to tell you that I'm… I'm trans. I'm gonna go by he/him from now on, and my name," he said, smiling up at Shane, "is gonna be Alex. You can call me Al. I ask that you respect my wishes, or, you know, DNI. Well, I guess that's it, thank you for your time." He shuddered. That was it.

He was met by stunned silence, and Uncle Martin and Aunt Sylvia left, but it didn't matter, because, as always, Shane had his back.

"Yo, 'cuz!" Elliot shouted, smacking Alex on the shoulder in greeting, "Cool to hear I won't be the only guy our age living here anymore!"

Al smiled, wide and pure. "Thanks, it means a lot. Serious."

"You still playing that Shark game? I heard they hit it big, VR game of the year, right?"

"Yeah! Yes. It's on the up and up, for sure."

"Maybe I'll catch you on sometime. I've been curious to give it a try."

"That'd be great." He saw Shane approaching. "I'll catch you later, 'kay?"

"Sounds good bro. Take care."

"You too."

"Hey," Shane whispered, back from a long line of meet and greets, "you think we'll still play Shark Attack together after all this?"

He laughed. "I dunno. I'm not so into high strat and tac sims anymore," he said with a wink, "I've got romance on the brain."

He smiled and took Al's hand. "You know, if I was born back then, I'd have done something like that. Not the military part, I mean, but the shark preservation. It hurts to know that, now, they're nothing more than pixels and stardust." He passed his hand through the holo, a wistful expression quirking his lips and softening his eyes.

Stardust.

Al squeezed his hand. "They're more than that, to us. They're light, and hope. Hope that we won't make the same mistakes. Hope that we'll make a better future." He leaned forward, lips brushing against Shane's. "Together."