Free Falling

Chapter 16: One Last Miracle

Annabelle and Bob moved slow the next morning, both in absolutely no rush for what awaited them in just a few short hours. They had one final meeting with all of the other pilots and their superiors before everyone was shipped back to their respective stations. The thought of having to say goodbye to Nat and Rooster again did not sit well with Annie. It had been years since the last time she had seen them. She wasn't sure she could go years longer again. Everyone met in the same hangar they'd been using as a classroom for the past three weeks, only this time, there was no added stress of learning how to fly a near impossible mission. Just the pressure of knowing all of the goodbyes that would follow. Annie made her way to sit next to Natasha who smiled warmly at her as she approached. 

"Hey, you're alive! Where were you yesterday? I tried calling." 

"Sorry, Nat. I know I probably should've been spending time with you and Rooster, but Bob and I decided to stay in. Just have the day to ourselves." 

"You spent the whole day on base? Doing what?" To keep from laughing, Annabelle bit her lip gently as she looked to Natasha cautiously with guilty eyes. 

"Stop it. All day?!" 

"Well, not all-day Nat. Come on, be realistic. We eventually packed at one point and then had dinner at my mom's later. So, like... three quarters of the day." 

"Unbelievable. So, where's Bob now?" 

"He stopped by the mess hall to get some breakfast. I told him I'd save us seats. Where's Rooster?" 

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was still in bed. He and Mav went to the Hard Deck and got wasted last night. I had to go pick them up at like 3am." As if knowing they were being spoken of, Rooster and Mav walked in from the tarmac, both with their aviators on to block the sun from causing more harm to their hangovers. Annabelle and Nat instantly burst into a fit of giggles. They looked like the walking dead. 

"What idiots." 

"Who are the idiots?" Annie turned her head in surprise, not having heard Bob approach seconds earlier. He smiled softly at Annabelle as he sat on the end beside her putting down a plate of breakfast on the table as well. 

"Rooster and Mav. Apparently, Nat had to save them from a drunken party they decided to have amongst themselves last night." Annabelle gestured to the front where Bob looked to find Rooster and Mav seemingly in a state of total depression. Both laid as flat as they could against the desks, hoping the cold of the metal would ease the tension still present in their heads. Bob also laughed at the sight. 

"Yeah, they definitely don't look good. I grabbed you some breakfast." 

"You know I don't eat breakfast Bobby." 

"I know. I meant I grabbed you a juice. You live off of liquids. I know you baby." Annie smiled wide as Bob placed a large bottle of cranberry juice on the table next to her. It was moments like these Annabelle couldn't believe they'd only known each other three weeks. She remembered the conversation one night when they had been hanging out in Bob's dorm after their first date. Bob joked that he couldn't recall ever seeing Annie eat anything and she joked back that she lived off liquids, juice and soda being her go to options. They had learned so much and yet so little about one another, but the thought of learning more and more about Bob every day for the foreseeable future made Annabelle feel happier than she had in a long time. She grabbed his hand into her own as she leaned forward into a kiss. Bob seemed taken aback by the PDA, blushing heavily as he glanced around the room, seemingly waiting for some form of teasing to begin. Belle chuckled lightly at the response, stroking the back of Bob's hand gently with her thumb. 

"It's okay Bobby. I'm pretty sure everyone knows. Besides, we aren't technically on assignment anymore. So it's fine." Bob still just smiled shyly at Annie which caused her to only smile all the bigger.