"I can't believe it, Icarus!" Alberta laughed with a few snorts, though Icarus found the sound delightful. She took his hands in hers and twirled around before hugging him close, and nuzzling her face in the crevice of his neck. "This is actually happening, our dreams… I think I'm going to cry!"

She released him from the embrace, and held him at arm's length. Her brown eyes widened and actually started to stream salty tears when she looked at Icarus' face that'd already started to cry before she'd even began to let go of his self. "It really is something, ain't it?"

Her lips sucked inwards, trying to stop herself from letting it all go just then and there. "It is," she managed to say. "We should probably set up and get ready now if we want to be on time."

"Don't wanna' make 'em wait, 'spose." He said in a nonchalant tone of voice jokingly.

Alberta dropped her arms and held his left hand with her right, and started towards the large, white facility building in front of them.

Walking, after running just prior out of pure excitement, through the glass door, the two were greeted by a Spanish scientist, fully prepared with a lab coat and clipboard. "Dr. Garcia, Icarus, welcome," the scientist greeted.

"Thank you," Alberta replied, as did her friend standing next to her.

"Please, go change into proper equipment, and then we can begin."

She squealed and he almost fainted, but they made their way to the designated space to change.

"I still can't believe it," Alberta whispered, taking her own lab coat off the hanger on the wall and slipping it on.

"Me neither," Icarus chuckled. "My stomach feels like it has been replaced with balloon."

They smiled and finished, then left to seek out who'd invited them in.

"Professor!" Alberta called to the person standing next to the main control panel, laden with many colorful buttons and switches in front of quite a few screens.

"Ah, yes. You're prepared?"

"Yeah," they simultaneously responded.

"And you're ready for this?"

Icarus looked towards his childhood friend, and she looked back at him, "As ready as we'll ever be."

"Excellent. Please follow me."

They nodded and did as they were instructed. They were led to a door, and the scientist told Alberta to get in her readied station. She did, as she walked over to one of the seats of the control panel.

"Icarus, you're needed station is just past this door," the Spanish professional chuckled, their green eyes just barely showing past their glasses, "obviously."

"Right," he laughed.

They opened the door for him. It opened quick and creakily, letting the outside sun shine in.

"Thanks."

They nodded, watching as he exited the station onto the lifted walkway and through another door that opened slowly and with pressured air soundly seeping out. Icarus looked over his shoulder and waved one time before entering a small room on it's side, and sealing it back up once inside.

The professor closed the first door and headed towards the main control board along with Alberta, picking up a pair of headphones and putting them on as Alberta did while he was getting ready.

"Dr. Garcia, please inform Mr. Reynolds that we'll be finishing procedures in ten."

"Yes, Professor."

They pressed a button on the panel, and spoke into the microphone on their headset, "Are you properly secured, Icarus?"

"Rodger that," a static voice replied through the headphones.

"Station in working order."

"Yep."

"Surroundings secured."

"Self secured, belts one, two, three, and four."

"Yeah."

The professor let go of the button. "Operation tactful and ready for lift off. Mr. Reynolds in position?"

"Yes," Alberta confirmed.

"Start the count down."

The counter started by Reynolds' hand and Alberta subconsciously and automatically held her breath, watching the screen in front of her with every ounce of focus she had. It showed the inside of the pod where Icarus then was, his face facing her, and helping her through this as she was helping him.

She saw another tear leak from his left eye.

10

9

8

Alberta felt as though she would hyperventilate and imagined Icarus right there next to her holding her hand. She couldn't believe what they'd both became.

7

6

5

Icarus smiled, knowing that she could see him right then.

4

3

2

"Incredible."

1

Blast-Off

The fuel engines had rumbled fiercely and began to slowly lift the entire space rocket off the ground, little by little.

"Hey," Icarus yelled over the roaring engines, "making our way through time and space, right, Albertie?"

"Yeah, just like the good old days!" She yelled back in reply.

They both had crazy grins, ear to ear, on their faces, while the professor looked at them both adoringly with a small smile of their own. They knew love like that once.

It had been a good while before Alberta could finally talk normally to congratulate her friend out of the atmosphere, "You did it, Icarus."

"We did it," he corrected. "We did."

It was dark on Earth where professor and 'Dr. Garcia' were now, but that only helped make it feel like Icarus and Alberta were still in the same place.

"Dr. Garcia," the professor called drowsily, "Mr. Reynolds and the back up are just in the next room over, and Professor Stein is coming to replace my position for nightshift. I'm going home."

Alberta nodded, "Right. Have a safe trip home, Professor."

"Save those sort of words for your friend, Dr. Garcia," the professor smiled. They grabbed their satchel off of the chair they stood next to, walked towards the glass doors behind them, and exited.

Alberta sighed, tired, yet full of energy. "Having a fun time up there, eh, Icarus?"

"Yeah, not like it's just a bunch of empty space or anything," he joked.

She laughed, toying around a bit with the switches, "Say, Icaroo..."

"Hm?"

"I know this is just a small, private facility in a place isolated from the world, but..."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, 'Bertie," he interrupted. "We never wanted to fall in place with the others and have information kept from us anyway, right?"

"…Right," she replied, smiling.

There was static for a second on one of the screens, a small glitch in his image.

"It feels like I'm floating through the dark," Icarus said, after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"You are," Alberta snorted.

"No, but not in a pod or anything… Just… out there. When I close my eyes, I feel…"

"…You feel what?" She prodded.

"…Infinite."

There was another glitch in the screen before it blanked.

"Icarus?"

No reply.

"Icarus, answer me!"

The screen returned the image of the inside of the shuttle slowly, but it was fuzzy. Icarus' lips moved, but she heard nothing. "Icarus, I think your circuit's dead… Can you hear me?"

His lips didn't move, but she noticed nothing around him did either.

"Icarus, your picture's frozen; please say you can at least hear me!"

The screen blanked again, but fuzzy radio-effected noise replaced it, "Alberta, I'm scared."

"Icarus-!"

"Does this thing know which way to go?"

"I-It should! I-"

The picture on the screen showed up once more, and revealed Icarus with tears streaming down his cheeks. Alberta choked at the sight, words getting caught in her throat, and tears beginning to stream down her own face. "I lo-" The sound cut out, and testings found the microphones were officially disconnected.

"Reynolds!" She yelled to her side in order for her voice to amplify to the next room through the wall.

"Yes, Garcia?" He called back.

"Get your ass over here with the rest of your crew!"

The respective door opened and the team flushed out quickly to the main control center.

"You," she pointed to one of them, "call Professor Stein and makes sure he's on his way A.S.A.P!"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied, running off to another room to make the call.

She held her head-set, "Icarus, we're getting you down from there. I know it's a premature evacuation, but we can't continue with things working incorrectly."

Icarus didn't reply, as the sound was cut and the screen was dead.

"There's something wrong, can you hear me, Icarus? I repeat, ground control to Icarus, can you hear me?" Reynolds, A.K.A Fredric Reynolds, second in command to the Professor, attempted contact.

They worked for so long.

"My crew needs to go home, Garcia." He said.

"No! Not until I know Icarus is safe!" She yelled at him, standing up from her seat to look him straight in the eyes.

He didn't say anything, but merely looked at her with pitiful eyes.

And the crew worked until three in the morning, before they left, no one to replace them. Professor Stein never came to the station. Alberta stayed there, a worried mess with low blood sugar, no sleep, and tear-stained cheeks. She was frantic.

"Icarus!" She yelled, though nobody there to hear her. "ICARUS, ANSWER ME, THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

It was still dark outside, but with a sort of empty feeling three in the morning brought.

"ICARUS, CAN YOU HEAR ME; PLEASE! PLEASE! SAY SOMETHING!"

The only screen that still worked was the one connected to the camera outside, which was aimed at where the shuttle once was before exiting the atmosphere.

"Please…" She whimpered.

She sat there, in a chair facing the many screens in front of her, with the control center wielding many buttons and switches that she'd studied oh, so hard to remember the unique functionality of each one.
She sat there, in that uncomfortable chair, at three A.M, in the dark, alone, waiting for some sort of sign that let her know the one she loved was safe, unharmed, and alive.

But Icarus never replied.