Perchance to Nightmare

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he notice was that he was no longer in the hangar. The second thing he noticed was that he was not alone. And finally, the third thing he noticed was the immense pain he was feeling all over his body.

"Son of a Zaku pilot! Why do I feel pain everywhere?" Jack cried out.

"Ah, good to see you're awake now."

Jack turned his head slightly and sees the captain sitting next to the doctor. Behind them is the head of security and...

"AHHH!!! No more, please, oh god, no more. Keep her away from me!"

Jack turned his head to see who was shouting and sees the head of security from the other ship. He was in a full body cast, but still somehow managed to curl up into a fetal position, muttering, "Oh god, make her stop..."

He heard the door opened up and moved his head once again, to see who else was in the room. It was Roslyn and...

"YOU! What are you doing here?" A pain shot through his body as he yelled, but he didn't care.

The tall effeminate looking man, dressed completely in white, with a matching white cape, no less, looked at Jack with wide ecstatic eyes, but quickly regained his composure.

"I'm not here for you, if that's what you're asking. Your captain here has invited me here to apologize for the sheer brutality his crew has done on my crew."

"Don't worry, our doctor is extremely good at patching up broken bones and bruises. I can attest to that." his captain replied. "But you have to admit, Frederick..."

The effeminate man snaps back. "That's Captain Frederick Von Heinz to you, you zweitklassig kapitän."

Roslyn interceded before his captain could respond. "Please, Captain Von Heinz, there is no need for name calling here. Otherwise, I might have to call out our kleinen zerstörer here."

Von Heinz froze for a second, but he crossed his arms and turned his head away. "Fine, let's just get this over with already."

Jack felt a renewed appreciation for the vice-captain as they continued their conversation.

"First off, we had invited you over to discuss why you were following us."

"F-f-follow? We did no such thing. It's not like I was stalking the pilot over there or anything. It's just a big coincidence that we were heading in the same direction, that's all."

"Really? Because buying the same exact cargo as us, traveling to the same drop-off point as us, and taking the same exact route as us, doesn't help your case at all."

"A big coincidence I tell you, nothing more. Besides, I have no reason to follow you, at all."

Jack couldn't see it, but he was sure he felt the Von Heinz stealing a glance at him. Jack, couldn't help but shiver.

Roslyn cleared her throat to draw their attention back to her again. "Ahem, let me refresh your memory. Did you, or did you not say the words, 'Mein Seelenverwandten' before you kissed our naive pilot there."

Never had Jack tried so hard to will himself to be deaf.

"W-w-w-what?!?! I did no such thing. I will never debase myself by k-k-k-k-kissing some unknown man."

"May I remind you that I was there at the time. You had arrived to the bar we were in, and declared yourself to be the best captain in the system. Our captain laughed, and you, offended by that, walked up to him and declare a duel. He refused and you somehow became more offended, started name calling. One thing let to another and a bar-fight broke out. And in the confusion, someone threw a chair at you, but before it can hit you, our kind pilot over there, pushed you away. And then..."

The effeminate captain's face was blushing a bright red, while occasionally stealing a glance at Jack, while Jack was wishing so hard to be blind.

"I-I-I-I've had enough of this! I will not stand here while you besmirch my honor like that." He looked uncertain for a moment, but slowly he smiled and suddenly, Jack has a bad feeling. "All this accusations is getting us nowhere. We are both captains, traders to be exact. At the end of the day, profit is what we're both after."

Roslyn asks cautiously, "What are you suggesting?"

Von Heinz replied, "A partnership, so to speak."

"NO!" Jack yells out. Only to realize, no sound is coming out, only a weak muffled noise. He also realize there were pink elephants dancing on the ceiling now and all his pain vanished.

"While my honor is important, I'm not that arrogant to throw away an opportunity to earn credits because of it. The crew comes first, no?"

John, after being silent for so long, remains silent and nods.

"So, for the time being, we work together, my ship is your ship, and your crew is mine, so to speak."

Jack is too busy starting at the Red and Green Haro's spinning around a giant Christmas tree with a glowing mobile suit on top, to care anymore. Delirious, he screams out, "Merry Christmas Everyone!" before blacking out from the morphine.