Into Your Arms

Goodbye

You awoke in the middle of the night to urgent shuffling around the house, and Pete talking on his cell phone. You tried to listen as much as you could, without invading his privacy.

"Yeah, call Rooster. I'll be at the base in 20. Make sure his ass gets there." You heard him sigh and then set the phone on the counter. You decided to open your door and ask him what was going on, it caused you to worry even more than you had been. It was only 3:30 in the morning, who could he even have been talking to?

"Hey, Pete? Everything okay?" You asked in a hushed tone, not knowing if Penny was awake.

"Hey, Im sorry if I woke you. Ace just called and they need us to leave as soon as we can make it to base." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Um..he's going to call Bradley, I just hope he wakes up."

You suddenly knew you weren't going to see him before they took off..for two weeks. Even had you driven home, he would most likely be on the road on the way to the base already. Your stomach was a mess of knots, and all you felt like doing was crying, letting it all out. Instead, you chose to hold it together in front of Pete.

"I gotta get going, but look, I promise I will keep him safe. He will be okay, and I'll even give him a swift kick in the ass for what he's done." He gave you a small smile. He leaned over and hugged you. Penny came out and gave him a hug and a quick kiss before sending him off. As soon as you saw his bike get on the road, your emotions poured out of you.

"It's going to be okay, Lena." Penny said calmly as she sat beside you, rubbing your back.

"I didn't even get to see him before he left, because of the way he acted. What if he doesn't come back? As a pilot, you always know it's a possibility." You could only think of the worst, naturally.

"As stubborn as Bradley is, you know he will make it back to you, even if it was just to tell you to piss off." She let out a small chuckle, trying to make light of what she knew was a dark situation. You heard your phone ringing, hoping it was Bradley. Much to your dismay, it wasn't.

"Hey, Hangman." You tried to hide your sniffles, but he could tell you had been crying.

"..hey. What's wrong? Tell Rooster to get his ass in gear!"

"I'm not with him, I'm sorry Jake."

You called him Jake, and it automatically signaled that you weren't in the mood for banter, which meant something was definitely wrong. You also weren't with Rooster, and he could tell you'd been crying. "What the fuck did he do?"

"It's nothing, please just promise me you'll be safe. And that you'll come home." You choked out.

"I promise, Elena. But seriously, what the fuck did he do?" He pushed again. About that time, you heard Bradley's voice in the background, clearly pissed off by the sound of a slamming truck door. "I'm fucking here, Mav, what more do you want from me?!" Your heart sank. He hadn't even tried to stop by Pete's, but, you didn't know why a small part of you even thought he would.

"I gotta go, Elena. I promise, we're all coming home." Before he clicked to end the call, you heard "Bradshaw, what the hell did you do?!" Click.

You couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, amidst your tears. Penny had said she was going to try to get some rest, if you were going to be okay on your own. You smiled gently and let her get back to bed. You had made a decision that night, and booked a flight to Oregon that left at 8 AM. You were going home to your family, you needed to get away. You attempted to sleep for a few more hours, but didn't succeed. You decided to get up, and make your way to the house to gather your things.

You left a note on the counter for when Penny woke up, thanking her for everything she had done, and letting her know that you would be going home for a while. You felt so bad skipping out on work, that you had even told her if she needed to hire a replacement, you would understand. Life had been going so well, and then boom, it blows up right in your face.