Stick With Trigger, And You'll Make It

We arrived back at the base a little while after our mission at Scofield Plateau. Everyone still seemed a little on edge about possible civilian casualties as we sat down in the briefing room.
     "Congratulations pilots. You've given us air superiority by destroying their radar," praised the briefing officer as he walked in the room. "The first barrier keeping us from retaking the space elevator is gone." No one really cheered much as we all were worried about the same thing. "Now is the time to group up and begin the counteroffensive! Let us reclaim what is ours!"
     "Do we have any reports on civilian casualties?" Asked Brownie.
     "So far no reports have come in on any civilians being killed or injured by downed aircraft. There has been property damage, but that is easier to rebuild and replace than a lost life." Reassured the officer. "If there are no further questions, then you are all dismissed. We will notify you when your next sortie is scheduled as the information becomes available." All the pilots filed out of the briefing room, with sighs of relief and thankful murmurs that no civilians had been killed. I walked out to the night air and looked at my watch.
"9:30 already?" I mumbled. I was shocked how long we had been gone on mission. It didn't feel like we'd been flying for almost 14 hours straight.
"Hey Trigger!" Called out Faun. I looked over to him as he walked up to me. "You made it back."
"Of course I did, I'm not that easy to shoot down," I boasted. "So, care to buy me a drink?" Faun nodded enthusiastically and started leading me down to the bar on base. It wasn't a big place, just big enough for the crew on base to not be cramped while drinking. The sign on the roof was a nice nod to naval pilots.
"Here it is, the Tomcat Hanger," said Faun. We walked in and the bartender didn't seem very busy at all. There was only a handful of ground service crew who'd come in for a drink that night. I couldn't wait to get something strong to drink, but then I remembered that I hadn't made a phone call in the last few days.
"Just a second Faun, I need to call someone real quick," I said.
"No problem, I'll get you a drink going," he said.
"Perfect, rum please," I asked as I stepped back outside. I opened up my cell phone, no new calls from anyone, just as usual. I dialed his number, and just waited for the voicemail beep.
"Hey Dad. It's me again. I've gotten to fly in two sorties already since I last called you. One was an emergency and then the other was us going on the offensive. I finally got in a few dogfights in my jet, and you were right. The rush when you're chasing an enemy is just... it's something else. I hope you're proud of me," I recorded.
"Everything alright Trigger?" Asked Faun.
"Yeah!" I called back to him. "Gotta go Dad, kinda on a date or something. Love you, bye." I ended the call and went back inside. Faun was waiting at the bar with his own drink and another next to him.
"Who'd you have to call?" He asked. "If you don't mind me asking."
"No not at all. It's my Dad. I haven't seen him in almost 14 years, but I try to call him everyday. I know he won't answer, but what kind of daughter would I be if I didn't at least try," I explained.
"What kind of father just abandons his daughter?" said Faun.
"He didn't abandon me, he had his reasons for leaving," I said as I picked up my glass of rum.
"Had to have been a good reason for him to leave for that long," he said.
"He did it to keep people from finding out who he was," I said.
"Who was he?" Asked Faun. I stopped mid-drink and looked at him, and he could tell exactly what that look meant. "Right, stupid question." I laughed a little as we both continued with our drinks.
"So where are you from Faun?" I asked him. He finished his first bourbon drink, and called for another one.
"I was born in Oured. Lived there my whole live before the OADF. Heck I'd have to say it was watching a squadron of F-14's take down the SOLG satellite in 2010 that made me want to sign up," answered Faun.
"I remember that day. I was 15 when those Tomcats flew overhead. I still can't believe the Belkans were so desperate to drop a satellite on Oured," I said. We sat there for hours, just drinking and talking. By the time it was midnight, we had a combined twenty drinks between us.
     "Ok ok, so you impersonated your flight instructor on Halloween, and didn't think about the fact that he had black hair and you're hair was blonde?!" I laughed.
     "Apparently drunk me thought that no one would notice if I kept my hat on, but then still took off my hat as we walked into the briefing room," he laughed with me. "So I ended up on my face in the mud for two hours, with my flight instructor standing over me, and I had to sing the cadence 'my instructor helps me learn, I am still a dumbass worm!'" I killed my thirteenth shot of rum while trying not to laugh it back up.
     "I guess it's my turn right?" I asked.
     "Yes, tell me of a time where Trinity Gardener was in need of being squared away," said Faun as though I were a medieval bard.
     "Alright. So I was fresh out of flight school and back in Oured. My friends had all gathered at the beach house one of them had rented. There was booze aplenty and my friends had all decided that there was no last call," I told him.
     "Let me guess, you got hammered?" He predicted.
     "Big time. Showed up to the airbase to ship out here hung over as fuck," I said.
"This was recent?!" Faun exclaimed.
"Yep, I was just off my hangover as we landed here," I said. Faun killed another drink drink, and then looked back over at me. 'Dammit' I thought to myself, as I got lost in his eyes again. I found myself leaning forward, and swiftly losing balance. Out of instinct my hand went to his thigh to keep myself upright.
     "Sorry Faun, I was..." I started.
     "John, my real name's John," he interrupted.
     "Sorry... John," I said. Our eyes stayed locked, as though we were in a dogfight flying straight at each other.
"Hey you two, last call is in 5," said the bartender. We looked around and saw we were the last two people in the bar.
     "It's late, we should get some rest before the next sortie," said John. I went to stand up and walk out of the bar, but my legs seemed a little wobbly. And of course, by seemed, I mean I was on a crash course with the floor the moment I took a step. Faun quickly reached out and caught me in his arms.
     "Thank you, Faun," I said, trying to get my legs underneath me. He put one of my arms bore his shoulder, and then wrapped his own behind my waist. His touch there just made me physically shiver, and left me craving more.
     "Please don't drop me," I laughed as Faun started carrying me out the door. The tarmac was empty as we walked towards the barracks. We tried being quiet even with all the laughs and flirting as we passed by most of the other pilots rooms.
     "Thank you for all the drinks tonight Faun," I said as I opened up my room. He came inside with me and sat me down on my bed.
     "Of course Trigger," he said. He stood up and went to walk out but I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Would you... stay?" I asked him. He looked back at me as we locked eyes yet again, but this time there was a passion between them. John came back to me, and held my chin softly as we kissed. I leaned into the kiss hungrily as I wrapped my arms around him. 'Damn him and that rum, making me rush things' I thought. John leaned me back into the cot but let his lips stray off of mine. He kicked his foot back to make sure the door was fully shut before letting our lips separate for oxygen.
"Maybe drinking wasn't such a good idea," he said.
"At least wait until morning to say that," I teased. We kissed again as John threw the covers over both of us.

God, it was a long night... but a good night...