what he needed, but it was turning out that, somehow, we were turning out to be just what each of us needed. It didn’t make any sense, but I wasn’t interested in fighting it anymore.
Unfortunately, by the time he was done with triple patrol shifts and I was done doing anything I could in Command to help out, we were too tired and pissed off to do much more than hold each other when we finally had a chance to just be alone.
Soon, I promised myself and my impatient libido. Someday, we’d have some privacy and more than five minutes in which we could count on no one knocking on our door or contacting us over our comms. So far, it just hadn’t worked out that way.
I was shaken out of my daydreams by someone soaring past the plane, flying so quickly they were nothing but a blur.
“What the hell was that?” Max asked. He sounded shaken.
“Relax. Just keep flying, and let’s keep an eye out.”
Whoever it was buzzed us again, flying across the windshield in front of Max. Max pulled up.
“This isn’t right. Whoever this is is deliberately fucking with us,” he said.
The next instant, something crashed into the side of the mini jet, and Max yanked the steering yoke to get us righted again.
“We’re under attack. Some dipshit is flying at us and crashing into the plane,” Max said over his comm. “Can’t identify. They’re moving too fast.”
“We’re on our way. Do
not
land,” Portia said over our comms.
“Roger that,” Max said.
The thing, person, whatever, crashed into the side of the plane, and all I saw was a streak of black as it flew away.
A knot formed in my stomach.
“Tell Caine not to come,” I said into the comm.
“Daystar, he’s heading to the flight deck now—”
“Call him back,” I said. “Don’t let him come out here.”
“Daystar—”
“Do it!” I shouted. The person flew past, then, in the next second, crashed into us again so hard my head hit the side of the plane. The glass burst open from the impact, and I heard Max shout something as the wind whipped around us.
The plane started falling.
“Unbuckle!” I shouted.
He did, and I grabbed him and we flew away from the falling wreckage of what had been our plane. I set him on the roof of a nearby apartment building, then zipped back, glancing around, and got under the plane, maneuvering it to an area where it could fall without hurting anyone.
The thing zipped over me just as I was setting the destroyed mini jet down, and I cursed and rose into the air.
And that was when I saw Max hurtling toward the ground, screaming.
“Goddamnit,” I breathed. I flew at top speed, determined to get to him, hoping I’d guessed the distance right, hoping I’d get there before my assigned partner was nothing more than a splat on the concrete at the base of the building.
I put on a final burst of speed and managed to get under Max when he was about thirty feet up. I caught him with an “oof.”
I was pretty sure he was praying.
We were almost to the ground when the person flew at us, right into me. Max went flying out of my arms under the impact, but I knew he’d be okay this close to the ground, probably.
I, on the other hand, went hurtling back, slamming into the brick facade of the apartment building Max had been standing on while I’d dealt with the plane.
The person knocked into me again, and I fell, then jumped back up, determined to be ready for their next attack.
“We’re inbound. We see the plane,” Portia said. “Just hold on.”
I saw the person flying at me again, and I steeled myself, then rose up into the air and met them him head-on.
He shouted a string of curses when I hit him, and a chill went down my spine.
I’d know that particular Scottish brogue anywhere.
“Fucking Killjoy,” I shouted. I flew at him, and someone else flew at me from the side, knocking me away from my target.
“Come on, you cowardly piece of shit,” I yelled, stalking toward where he’d fallen after I’d hit
Unfortunately, by the time he was done with triple patrol shifts and I was done doing anything I could in Command to help out, we were too tired and pissed off to do much more than hold each other when we finally had a chance to just be alone.
Soon, I promised myself and my impatient libido. Someday, we’d have some privacy and more than five minutes in which we could count on no one knocking on our door or contacting us over our comms. So far, it just hadn’t worked out that way.
I was shaken out of my daydreams by someone soaring past the plane, flying so quickly they were nothing but a blur.
“What the hell was that?” Max asked. He sounded shaken.
“Relax. Just keep flying, and let’s keep an eye out.”
Whoever it was buzzed us again, flying across the windshield in front of Max. Max pulled up.
“This isn’t right. Whoever this is is deliberately fucking with us,” he said.
The next instant, something crashed into the side of the mini jet, and Max yanked the steering yoke to get us righted again.
“We’re under attack. Some dipshit is flying at us and crashing into the plane,” Max said over his comm. “Can’t identify. They’re moving too fast.”
“We’re on our way. Do
not
land,” Portia said over our comms.
“Roger that,” Max said.
The thing, person, whatever, crashed into the side of the plane, and all I saw was a streak of black as it flew away.
A knot formed in my stomach.
“Tell Caine not to come,” I said into the comm.
“Daystar, he’s heading to the flight deck now—”
“Call him back,” I said. “Don’t let him come out here.”
“Daystar—”
“Do it!” I shouted. The person flew past, then, in the next second, crashed into us again so hard my head hit the side of the plane. The glass burst open from the impact, and I heard Max shout something as the wind whipped around us.
The plane started falling.
“Unbuckle!” I shouted.
He did, and I grabbed him and we flew away from the falling wreckage of what had been our plane. I set him on the roof of a nearby apartment building, then zipped back, glancing around, and got under the plane, maneuvering it to an area where it could fall without hurting anyone.
The thing zipped over me just as I was setting the destroyed mini jet down, and I cursed and rose into the air.
And that was when I saw Max hurtling toward the ground, screaming.
“Goddamnit,” I breathed. I flew at top speed, determined to get to him, hoping I’d guessed the distance right, hoping I’d get there before my assigned partner was nothing more than a splat on the concrete at the base of the building.
I put on a final burst of speed and managed to get under Max when he was about thirty feet up. I caught him with an “oof.”
I was pretty sure he was praying.
We were almost to the ground when the person flew at us, right into me. Max went flying out of my arms under the impact, but I knew he’d be okay this close to the ground, probably.
I, on the other hand, went hurtling back, slamming into the brick facade of the apartment building Max had been standing on while I’d dealt with the plane.
The person knocked into me again, and I fell, then jumped back up, determined to be ready for their next attack.
“We’re inbound. We see the plane,” Portia said. “Just hold on.”
I saw the person flying at me again, and I steeled myself, then rose up into the air and met them him head-on.
He shouted a string of curses when I hit him, and a chill went down my spine.
I’d know that particular Scottish brogue anywhere.
“Fucking Killjoy,” I shouted. I flew at him, and someone else flew at me from the side, knocking me away from my target.
“Come on, you cowardly piece of shit,” I yelled, stalking toward where he’d fallen after I’d hit
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