Terry stared at the message in front of him for full two minutes, mouth hanging open, before he managed to get his bearings back at least enough to close it. He looked around but didn't see a living thing in the room – oh yes, the others had asked him some time ago to accompany them to the canteen. About half an hour ago, to be exact, as he noticed glancing at the time. Terry scooted backwards in his chair, thought briefly about relaying the information to André and then decided against it. No, this was something he wanted to talk about with them in person.

He stood up, quickly prodded André as to their whereabouts, and nodded to himself as he trotted across the yard to the big canteen. Thanks to André's reply he already knew what he was looking for: two tables pushed together next to a comfy sofa to accommodate the lot of them. Besides, even if he hadn't known it, the group was big enough to be conspicuous in the sparsely populated surroundings.

Terry's eyebrows jumped as he spotted Arria's short blond hair between the taller forms of Blaine and Corinn, and again when he realized that Adam the M-clone had actually joined the group for the night. More often than not, Adam politely declined the invitations, preferring to hang out with the other MC's, but obviously today was an exception. Salvador was of course practically glued to Troy's side, and Vanya had thoughtfully harassed Lancer into a corner from which the platinum-blond wouldn't be able to slip away unnoticed, as he too often did these days. Terry grinned to himself. So the folks were determined to see to it that even the more withdrawn ones did some socializing!

"Hi there," he said as soon as he was close enough. "Any room left for me?"

"Sure!" Blaine jumped up from his seat to fetch him a chair from a neighboring table and plopped it accommodatingly next to his. "Here, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks!" Terry sprawled on the offered seat and wiggled his fingers in greeting. "Tough day, everybody?"

"You bet," Adrien sighed. "But there's light at the end of the tunnel. Juri has promised to start taking over some responsibility for the Angels, and if that isn't good news then I don't know what is."

"Juri? Are you quite sure you know what you're up against?" Terry grinned to the dark man who smiled so that his slanted eyes narrowed.

"I'm not so sure, but I'm ready to try it," he replied. "Orwel and Arria have suggested that I might start taking the clones to Trelissac, in little groups, and each group could include one TC at a time."

"You've all been saying that it'd be a good idea to separate them from each other," Orwel explained, "and that so far it's been too damn difficult because they can keep up their link, full force, no matter where they are. We thought that it would perhaps be easier if the one going out without the other four had so much to look at and think about that he'd want to concentrate more fully on his immediate surroundings."

"Hey, there's an idea!" Terry ruminated for a while and then nodded approvingly. "I believe that could work pretty well."

"That's what we thought too," André said. "Good that you agree. But what is it you have on your mind, brother Terry? You're awfully agitated."

Everyone's eyes were on Terry who nodded and looked knowing. "I must admit that I am. Just got news from our associates off-planet."

"News?" Arria frowned. "Since when are you in direct contact with our associates?"

"Arria, this was about that one particular topic that we talked about a while back," Terry hastened to add. "And you said you'd relay any and all messages related to it directly to me. Which has now happened."

"Oh!" The blond commander straightened, interest sparking in his eyes. "What is it?"

The others were looking from Terry to Arria and back again, equally nonplussed. Even the other T-clones were blinking in frustration.

"What're you talking about? Please?" André prompted. "Terry, you're so good at blocking that you quite frankly irritate me sometimes!"

Terry shot him a smug look. "Actually this is something that might primarily interest Troy, and he gets to choose whether he wants to hear it in private or not."

"Me?" Troy was a living question mark. "What is it?"

"It's about your cousin," Terry said softly.

Troy sat up, straight as a rod, and red blotches appeared on his cheeks. Everyone around them looked sympathetic – they all knew the full story by heart by now, and Juri even moved a little to make room in case the young man wanted to get away. Salvador's hand crept to clutch Troy's.

"Please tell," Troy said with quiet determination. "Whatever it is, I want to hear it right now."

"All right." Terry nodded. "First of all, Haldor Leboyer is alive. He's been held by the Union, as we all knew, but he's free now."

"Free?" Troy gasped. "What are you talking about, Terry?"

"Remember when I asked you for more information about Hal?" Terry leaned closer. "Well, I combined everything I got from you with the things I managed to dig up from various sources on Tabaimo –"

"Translation: what you managed to hack," Rori interjected dryly.

"I then asked Arria to send the lot out to all associates and request that they keep their eyes open," Terry continued, unperturbed. "And now it appears that he's not only been located but also set free, together with a bunch of others, during a mission."

Troy, nearly hyperventilating, buried his face in hands with a muffled sob. "Thank goodness... he's alive... oh Terry, Terry, how can I ever thank you enough?"

"Or I," Salvador added in a subdued tone. "After all it was my fault –"

"Don't you ever say that again!" Troy grabbed the blond clone into such a fierce embrace that he yelped. "How could you've done anything about it, when those Union bastards... oh Sal! He's all right!"

Corinn reached over to pat Terry's shoulder with a wide grin of approval. "That was good work, pal, and no mistake!"

"Oh, but the message wasn't all there yet," Terry said, and Troy lifted slightly puffed eyes to squint at him incredulously. "You see, they were a bit at a loss as to where they could send him. Tabaimo was obviously off limits, because that's where he was captured in the first place. But they figured that since Jainah is a free planet and he's got a cousin here too, they –"

"He's coming here?" Troy swallowed thickly and his face went slack. "Oh my god..."

"Hey, aren't you glad to see him again?" Vanya asked, vastly curious. "I mean, of course I know he might blame you for getting imprisoned and all that, but surely he'll understand when he hears the whole thing? Now you'll at least have the opportunity to set things straight with him!"

"It's not quite that simple." Troy shook his head. "Of course I'm glad and relieved to hear that he's alive and all... it's just that... for heaven's sake, why did it have to be here?"

"I'm intrigued, you know," Orwel joined in. "What is so wrong about his coming to Jainah?"

"It's – it's – oh damn!" Troy's hands waved in a desperate attempt to find the right words. "It's you lot! I mean not all of you, and as people I'm sure he'd like every single one of you, but..."

"It's the fact that so many of us are gays, right?" André's eyebrows arched as he put into words the thought that was practically hanging like a storm cloud above the young man. Troy gave him a desperate look.

"Exactly!" he breathed. "He's never liked 'sissies', as he says, and – hey, this is not funny!"

He tried in vain to get his voice heard over Corinn and Vanya who had erupted into laughter.

"Sissies? That sure beats everything else I've been called in my life!" Vanya, hiccuping with mirth, batted his eyes at Corinn and his voice rose by a few octaves. "Oh, did you hear that, pumpkin? Sissies, the naughty man calls us! Do you have anything to say to that?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, sugarmuffin." Corinn condescendingly patted Vanya's big hand on the table, ignoring the company who had all dissolved into giggles. "I will teach him to call you names, the brute!"

Vanya squeaked and primly slapped at the hand that had somehow strayed on his thigh. "Pumpkin! Now who's being naughty here?"

By now the others were howling with laughter, and even the usually composed Adam and too-quiet Lancer were smiling broadly. For a moment Troy looked like he might explode, then sighed and shook his head.

"You don't understand," he insisted. "Hal will feel awfully uncomfortable here, and that'll mean it probably won't be too easy to explain anything to him."

"Sorry, Troy," Corinn chuckled wiping his eyes. "Don't take offence, please. We promise to try and be serious for a while. So he doesn't like gays, right?"

"Damn right!" Troy said emphatically. "He's always been very suspicious about anyone who in the least looks or behaves like they even might be."

"But how can he tell?" Juri inquired. "I mean, look at us. Okay, so maybe not all of us here are gay or even bi, but still – the ones who are, do we look or act in the same way? And do the straight guys look or act in some other, significantly different way? Is there anything that'd let him see it right away? I dare say there isn't!"

"Except the fact that there are some rather obvious couples around! He'd have to be both blind and deaf not to notice," Troy grumbled, eyes darting involuntarily towards the big guys on his left.

Corinn and Vanya exchanged a meaningful look.

"I think reference is now being made to us, Gorgeous," Vanya said. "I guess this means we'll have to polish our act a little."

"Polish?" Arria grimaced. "Exactly how?"

"Hey, contrary to common belief we actually can behave ourselves," Corinn said mildly. "So, would you tell us about your cousin Haldor, Troy? What kind of a man is he?"

"He's straightforward, honest, loyal, trustworthy, nice." Troy didn't hesitate for a second, his voice defensive. "He's been like a big brother to me always, and especially after we started living in the same city. He worked there, used to drive a cab for a couple of years before switching to heavy transports. A perfectly ordinary guy, really. A good guy."

"Right." Vanya looked speculative. "I think I get the picture. So basically you're saying that he'd feel enough at home here, and like us well enough, if it wasn't for the fact that we're – uh – sissies?"

"Somehow I prefer the word 'gay'," Arria put in under his breath. "That sounds too descriptive of something that no one here really is."

"Except for me," Lancer said wryly. "I guess I fit the bill perfectly, so maybe I'd better stay out of his sight altogether."

"I probably qualify too." André rolled his eyes and twirled a long tress in his fingers. Troy blushed a little more but made no reply while Vanya's arm snaked around Lancer's shoulders and squeezed gently.

"You're no sissy, babe, and Haldor Leboyer will see it too, take my word for it!" he murmured. "But really, I think I see what my Gorgeous is getting at. If cousin Hal basically would like us and the place in general, if it wasn't for all these goddamn gays around, then maybe it's best if he's not aware of that little detail until he's had time to get to know us?"

"That's what I call strategy," Orwel nodded approvingly. "But I think you're the ones who'll have the hardest time trying to implement it."

"Leave that to us, Commander!" Corinn saluted him smartly across the table. "What do you say, partner? Shall we accept Mission Haldor, and unite our forces to bring down his defenses in the end?"

"Count me in, partner!" Vanya solemnly shook his hand.

Troy looked dubious but sighed in defeat.

"I sincerely hope everything will work out," he grumbled. "And I hope he's not too mad at me."

Salvador pressed wordlessly to Troy's side and slipped arms around him. Troy hugged him closer, then seemed to realize what he was doing, and the blush that had almost vanished from his face made a swift encore. He was profoundly grateful to the others who refrained from teasing him any more and instead tried to explain to a baffled Adam what 'sissy' actually meant.

A few hours and a shower later, Troy stood in the bathroom of the little apartment that he'd shared with Salvador for some days now, and rubbed himself slowly with a towel. The heavy knot of uncertainty felt like it'd taken a permanent residence somewhere in the pit of his stomach. His head was in turmoil, relief and guilt and trepidation and defiance and half a dozen other feelings stumbling gleefully over each other in the chaos.

Of course he was glad to know that Hal was all right. He just didn't quite like to admit to himself that he was afraid of meeting his cousin. Oh, he wasn't really worried about the inevitable confrontation, even though that'd be unpleasant as well, no doubt about it. No, Haldor was a sensible guy and he'd listen to Troy's explanation. He might still be too angry to listen at first, but ultimately he'd want to hear the full story; he was too fair and too curious not to, after cooling down a little. They'd been like brothers, and Troy harbored no illusions: that was exactly the reason why Hal was bound to be furious and terribly hurt by the perceived betrayal of his trust. But that was also the reason why Hal would, eventually, listen and make peace with him. No, those were things Troy honestly wasn't too much worried about. There was something else.

He sighed and slipped into the thin, loose pants he habitually wore to bed, combed fingers through his short hair and frowned to his reflection in the mirror. That something had been there, chafing in their relationship like a grain of sand in a shoe, back on Tabaimo. Heavens, it felt like a lifetime ago... and it was still there, now, here on Jainah. Back then its name had been Benedict. Now it was called Salvador.

Troy flipped the lights down and stepped out of the bathroom. Salvador was already in bed, lying on his stomach on the covers and, thankfully, wearing a pair of vibrant blue boxers. The clone would've preferred to sleep in the buff, but Troy had managed to persuade him to concede at least that much. He felt simply too awkward, too embarrassed to share a bed with a naked Salvador. His request had been granted, too, and what was more, with much less cajoling than Ben would've taken.

Troy crawled under the blanket and smiled as Salvador snuggled closer with a blissful sigh. Salvador... not Benedict.

He'd thought about it a lot and was ready to admit to himself that he'd been immensely attracted to his impish, sizzling, sensuous friend, and at the same time more than a little intimidated by him. Being attracted to your own sex wasn't out of the question on Tabaimo, but then, Tabaimo was no Jainah. Hell, being attracted to someone of any sex was something you weren't supposed to be too demonstrative about! All in good manners, and so on. Troy knew that there was a lively gay scene on Tabaimo, but his experience of it was limited to a few late night 'sightings' while out in town with friends, and the apparent flamboyance of it all hadn't appealed to him in the least. Besides, before Ben he hadn't had any idea that he might be that way inclined.

Then there'd been Ben. Not exactly pushy but definitely flirty, touchy-feely, playful, incredibly attractive, and almost disconcertingly open. Troy knew he'd always fought hard to keep Ben at an arm's length, mostly succeeding. Yes, they'd been close friends, but somehow their most intimate moments had always been associated with silence, solitude, peace. Most of them had taken place late at night, with Ben unusually subdued, tired or slightly tipsy. In a way, those were moments that closely resembled his life with Salvador. Sal was more quiet and thoughtful, and understandably a lot more insecure, than Ben had ever been. Somehow Troy also felt more at ease with him. Ben had been strong, confident, and slightly overwhelming. Sal needed him, in a way Ben never had.

Haldor. Troy grimaced uncomfortably in the darkness. Hal had always eyed his lively friend with considerable suspicion. Back then, Troy had vehemently and honestly denied any deeper intimacy between himself and Ben, afraid of Hal's disapproval and of losing his 'big brother'. What was he going to do now? Hal was on his way here...

Troy chewed his lip thoughtfully. Should he talk to Salvador, try to keep him at a distance at first, in order not to upset or antagonize his cousin? After all this time he still wasn't quite sure of what exactly he felt for the clone. He needed more time to sort it out. Sal was sure to understand.

...but no matter how understanding, he'd still hurt like hell. Troy wanted to slap himself for even considering, for a single moment, such a non-option.

Hal's the one who'll have to understand, eventually. Or if he won't, then he'll just have to either accept it, or – well, if it comes to that then that's it for me and him. Not friends any more. I'm not going to let Salvador down because of my cousin!

His jaw tightened as he gathered the blond closer and rubbed his cheek on the clone's head. Sal mumbled something sleepy, breath tickling Troy's bare neck. Troy swallowed, closed his eyes and concentrated on not thinking why the warmth of that slim body felt so good.